The following table provides data for a population of mammoths living in cold environments based on fossil and DNA evidence.

Question

Characteristic Percent of Population Showing Trait by Generation
Generation 1 Generation 2 Generation 3
Fur thickness greater than 6 cm 15 25 35
Fur thickness less than 6 cm 85 75 65
Based on this data and your knowledge of natural selection, which explanation best explains the trends seen in the data?

(1 point)
Responses

Individuals will choose to mate with other individuals that have thick fur.
Individuals will choose to mate with other individuals that have thick fur.

Individuals with thick fur emmigrate from the population of mammoths.
Individuals with thick fur emmigrate from the population of mammoths.

Individuals with thicker fur had a survival advantage in the cold environment, allowing these individuals to reproduce more often and create more offspring.
Individuals with thicker fur had a survival advantage in the cold environment, allowing these individuals to reproduce more often and create more offspring.

This population is in equilibrium since allele frequencies are not changing.

Answer 1

The best explanation for the trends seen in the data is:

Individuals with thicker fur had a survival advantage in the cold environment, allowing these individuals to reproduce more often and create more offspring.

This aligns with the principles of natural selection, where traits that provide an advantage in a particular environment (in this case, thicker fur in cold environments) become more common in future generations due to the increased reproductive success of individuals with those advantageous traits.