Gray and red squirrels share the same habitat. Red squirrels usually eat hazelnuts. After a disease kills off hazelnut trees in their environment, they have to start eating acorns. Gray squirrels are well adapted to eating acorns. The number of red squirrels decreased over time because they were not well adapated to eating acorns. Gray squirrels gradually replaced the red squirrels because they are better adapted to the environment. This change in the populations is an example of(1 point)

Question

Gray and red squirrels share the same habitat. Red squirrels usually eat hazelnuts. After a disease kills off hazelnut trees in their environment, they have to start eating acorns. Gray squirrels are well adapted to eating acorns. The number of red squirrels decreased over time because they were not well adapated to eating acorns. Gray squirrels gradually replaced the red squirrels because they are better adapted to the environment. This change in the populations is an example of(1 point)
Responses

genetic drift.
genetic drift.

competitive exclusion.
competitive exclusion.

resource partitioning.
resource partitioning.

natural selection.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

This change in the populations is an example of **natural selection**. The red squirrels were not well adapted to the available food source (acorns), while the gray squirrels were better adapted, leading to a decline in the red squirrel population and the gradual replacement by gray squirrels.