Why do tapeworms grow so large?

Question

Why do tapeworms grow so large?

In: 5

Answer 1

Longer tapeworms have more segments which they can use to absorb nutrients and produce offspring, so bigger worms = more offspring. Worms with more offspring are more successful, so that drives increase in size. Of course, eventually the tapeworm would get too long to fit in the intestine, but animals tend to have pretty long intestines so worms can get pretty long.