Some flowering plants have evolved long, narrow floral tubes whose nectar is accessible only to pollinators with correspondingly long proboscises or beaks. Charles Darwin, examining a Madagascan orchid with a foot-long nectar tube, predicted that a moth with a similarly long proboscis must exist on the island, though no such moth was then known to science. Decades after his death, just such a moth was documented, with a proboscis of the predicted length.
Based on the passage, which inference is most strongly supported?
- A
Plant features evolve independently of any animal species
- Bcheck_circle
Floral and pollinator features can offer reciprocal evidence about each other
- C
Darwin's prediction was based on observation of the moth itself
- D
All orchids depend on long-proboscis moths
Explanation
Predicting a pollinator from a plant feature, later confirmed, supports A. B, C, D contradict the passage.