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

Question

Based on this data and your knowledge of natural selection, which explanation best explains the trends seen in the data?

(1 point)
Responses

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.

Individuals within this population of mammoths tend to only mate with individuals that have thick fur.
Individuals within this population of mammoths tend to only mate with individuals that have thick fur.

This population of mammoths appear to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium since no allele frequencies are changing over time.
This population of mammoths appear to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium since no allele frequencies are changing over time.

Individuals with thick fur migrated into the population of mammoths, increasing the proportion of these individuals.

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 response aligns with the principles of natural selection, where advantageous traits (such as thicker fur for insulation in cold environments) increase an individual's chances of survival and reproduction. Over time, this leads to an increase in the frequency of such traits within the population.