Reading Comprehension

PT107 · S2 · P3 · Q19 Platypus Bill

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Scientists have long known that the soft surface of the bill of the platypus is perforated with openings that contain sensitive nerve endings.

Topic

How the platypus uses its bill—specifically, touch and electroreception—to find prey underwater.

Framework

Old / New

Main Point

Scientists used to think the platypus’s bill was just touch-sensitive, but new studies reveal that it relies on both touch and electric signals to hunt underwater prey, since its eyes, ears, and nostrils are sealed while submerged. *Most Valuable Sentence*: (end of P1).

P1: Discovery of Bill Sensory Function

Scientists have long known that the platypus's bill is full of nerves, but only recently concluded that it is the primary way the animal finds food underwater because it can sense both touch and electrical signals. Bohringer's studies showed the bill is super sensitive to touch, but didn’t explain how it locates prey they can’t touch yet.

P2: Electroreception Revealed Through Experiments

Scheich’s research showed that platypuses hunt by detecting weak electric fields, just like some fish. His experiments (using a battery in water) made platypuses react as if food were present, showing they can sense electric fields from a distance—which led to the idea that the platypus hunts by sensing the electrical signals of its prey.

19.

Which one of the following strategies is most similar to Scheich's experimental strategy as it is described in the passage?

  1. To determine the mating habits

    Weak Match

    This sounds a bit like our second quality. - hypothesizing that X has a certain trait because it's known that Y has that trait - using something artificial to simulate something natural But the decoy in this experiment actually looks like a bird, it doesn't just emit bird calls. In Scheich's experiment, the decoy was a battery. It emitted an electric field, just as a shrimp would, but it didn't visually resemble the shrimp. That's sort of important for the logic of the experiment, because that's how we know the platypus is reacting to the electric field of the battery, not to the battery's visual resemblance to shrimp (which it doesn't have).

    5% picked this

  2. To determine whether certain animals

    Weak Match

    This sounds a bit like our second quality. - hypothesizing that X has a certain trait because it's known that Y has that trait - using something artificial to simulate something natural The tape of the animals' cries is definitely an artificial rendering of their cries, but this is a weaker match for two reasons: 1. it's literally a recording of their cries, not some far-removed substitute. In Scheich's experiment, he didn't set up a fake shrimp tail do to tail flicks. He just used a battery. So the gap between the natural object and the artificial test object feels much wider than between an animal's actual cries and a recording of those cries. 2. In Scheich's experiment, the artificial object is meant to resemble some other entity (it's testing the platypus, but it's meant to resemble the shrimp). In this instance, they're testing animal X and using an artificial object to resemble animal X.

    10% picked this

  3. Correct

    To determine whether an animal

    Why this is right

    This again sounds like our second quality. - hypothesizing that X has a certain trait because it's known that Y has that trait - using something artificial to simulate something natural This match is stronger than the other though for a couple reasons: 1. the hypothesis relates to being able to sense a certain property emitted by prey (in Scheich's experiment, the prey emits an electric field, and he's testing whether the platypus can detect the electric field). Here, we think an animal can detect a prey's heat. 2. the artificial object isn't a close facsimile of the prey animal. It's just something that emits the property being tested. In Scheich's experiment, a battery was used to generate an electric field. In this one, a heat-generating object is used to generate heat.

    Skill tested: Analogy · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    82% picked this

  4. A fisherman catches fish by

    Bad Match

    This isn't even an experiment. This is just luring fish by giving them an artificial object that is designed to be a close replica of the natural object. It's visually similar and smells similar. Even if this were an experiment, it would only test whether fish could tell the difference between their actual prey and an object disguised to look and smell like their prey.

    3% picked this

  5. A game warden captures an

    Bad Match

    This also isn't an experiment. This is just luring animals with the actual food they want to eat. In Schiech's experiment, we don't think the platypus actually wants to eat a 1.5 volt battery. It's just sensing something emitted by the battery, which is also emitted by the platypus's prey.

    0% picked this

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