Evolutionary trade-off

Evolutionary trade-off is like when you have a choice to do two things, but you can only do one of them. For example, imagine you're playing a game of tag with your friends. You might have to run really fast to catch someone, but if you run too fast, you might get tired and have to stop running. So you have to decide if catching the person is more important than not getting tired.

In nature, animals sometimes have to make these choices too. For example, think about a bird that has to decide how much time to spend looking for food versus how much time to spend looking for a mate. If the bird spends too much time looking for food, it might not find a mate and have babies. If it spends too much time looking for a mate, it might not have enough food to take care of its babies.

These kinds of choices that animals make are called trade-offs. Evolutionary trade-offs are when an animal's choices affect its chances of surviving and reproducing over long periods of time. If an animal makes good trade-offs, it's more likely to pass on its genes to its babies and help its species survive.