2. Tree squirrels can have different fur colors.
Squirrels live in forests where foxes also live. Foxes hunt squirrels for food.
Squirrels that have fur that is the same color as the trees are harder for the foxes to see and catch.
The diagram below shows a population of squirrels that live in a forest. At time 1, the population had the same number of black and gray squirrels. At time 2, after many generations, there were many more black squirrels and fewer gray squirrels in the population.
How did the environment change between time 1 and time 2? How did the population change?
1 answer
Between time 1 and time 2, the environment likely changed in a way that made black fur coloration more advantageous for survival. This could have been due to a change in the tree bark color, making black squirrels harder for foxes to see and catch. As a result, more black squirrels survived and reproduced, passing on their black fur coloration to their offspring. This led to an increase in the black squirrel population and a decrease in the gray squirrel population over many generations. This is an example of natural selection, where individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to survive and reproduce, leading to a change in the population over time.
1 answer