What is pfenning's experiment?

Answer 1

• A team of biologists designed a set of experiments to test a hypothesis that was suggested some time earlier
• The hypothesis was mimics (like the flower fly) benefit because predators confuse them with the actual harmful species.
• This group of researchers, David and Karin Pfennig, along with one of their college students, tested the hypothesis by studying mimicry in snakes that live in North and South Carolina.
• A poisonous snake, the eastern coral snake, is marked by rings of red, yellow, and black. Predators rarely attack these snakes (brightly colored with distinctive patterns).
• A nonpoisonous snake, the scarlet kingsnake, mimics the ringed coloration of the coral snake.
• The reason kingsnakes look like coral snakes is because they repel predators. The hypothesis predicted that predators would attack snakes with the bright rings of red, yellow, & black less frequently than they would attack snakes without the warning coloration.

To test the prediction, the researchers made hundreds of artificial snakes. The 2 types of artificial snakes were those with the red, yellow & black ring pattern of coral snakes and the snakes that were brown.

• The researchers places equal numbers of the 2 types of fake snakes in various sites throughtout North and South Carolina and after four weeks, they got the snaks and counted how many had been attacked.
• The experiment included snakes that were brown along with the ringed snakes because the contrast in coloration was necessary to see if predators attack snakes based on color.
• Of all the attacks on the snakes, 84% of them were on the brown snakes and 16% were on the snakes with colored rings. This experiment supported the hypothesis.

Answer 2

Pfenning's experiment tested the idea that brain tissue can regenerate. He surgically removed a portion of the cerebellum in newborn rats and found that the tissue was able to regrow, supporting the concept of neuroplasticity. This research contributed to our understanding of how the brain can recover and adapt after injury.