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)
Responses

natural selection
natural selection

genetic modification
genetic modification

genetic drift
genetic drift

artificial selection

1 answer

The process described in the scenario is genetic drift. Genetic drift refers to the random changes in allele frequencies in a population due to chance events, especially in smaller populations. In this case, the shorter tail trait was passed down due to luck, rather than being favored by natural selection.