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1. For more than 100 years it has been known of a sex ratio distortion in head lice that leads to a demographic composition
1. For more than 100 years it has been known of a sex ratio distortion in head lice that leads to a demographic composition of ~65% females. This distorted sex ratio could arise during egg laying, at hatching, or through competition among adults. Using DNA from samples from a population in Argentina, Perotti et al. (2004) found all lice sampled were infected with the endosymbiont Wolbachia pipientis. This bacterial infection is transmitted from mothers to offspring. As a result, the endosymbiont has evolved to differentially kill male eggs, which then fail to hatch. a. Suppose we sample 10 lice from the heads of patients. Is the probability that seven of 10 head lice are female higher or lower than the probability that five are female? (Hint: use the sliders to change the number of tries to 10 and the p to the observed sex composition, you may need to zoom out of the plot to see the result). b. Suppose we give the lice antibiotics and cure them of the Wolbachia infection, preventing the differential mortality of male eggs. Which one is more probable now, five or seven females in the sample of 10?
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