Question

A species of fox lives in the arctic where the ground is covered in white snow, most the year, these arctic foxes hunt rodents and other small mammals, while they’re predators, include eagles, wolves, and polar bears. A mutation it is DNA causes a fox to have white fur rather than brown given this information. Would you classify this mutation as harmful, beneficial, or neutral mutation? Will this make the fox more or less likely to survive explain your answer

Answer 1

The mutation causing the fox to have white fur instead of brown can be classified as a beneficial mutation in this specific environment. This is because the white fur would provide the fox with camouflage, allowing it to blend in with the snow-covered ground and making it less visible to potential predators such as eagles, wolves, and polar bears. As a result, the fox with white fur would have an increased likelihood of survival compared to foxes with brown fur, as it would be less likely to be detected and hunted by its predators.