Question

Consider the following scenario:
An animal is born with a shorter tail. This makes no difference to its ability to survive or reproduce, but as a result of pure luck, the animal survives, reproduces, and passes its shorter tail down to its offspring. Over time, the species develops a shorter tail.
What type of process is described in this scenario?
(1 point)
• natural selection
O artificial selection
O genetic modification
O genetic drift

Answer 1

genetic drift

Reason: the tail-shortening spreads by chance (random survival/reproduction) with no fitness advantage, so allele frequencies change via drift rather than selection, human action, or direct modification.