Question

Imagine you are a scientist observing a wild population of rats. You study the population for many years. Your focus is counting how many individuals have each of the pictured variations. As the individuals in this population reproduce, those with variation 1 slowly begin to outnumber those with variation 2. Using what you know about Natural Selection, explain in 2 or more sentences why variation 1 is becoming more common. You may talk more generally or you may make specific guesses about the population's environment

Answer 1

Variation 1 is likely becoming more common in the rat population due to its potential advantages in survival and reproduction within the given environment. If variation 1 confers traits that enhance the individuals' ability to find food, evade predators, or adapt to environmental conditions, such as temperature or habitat, then those individuals are more likely to survive and reproduce. Consequently, over time, the traits associated with variation 1 will be passed on to subsequent generations, leading to an increase in their frequency within the population compared to those with variation 2, which may be less suited to the current ecological pressures.