Based on the description of the cartoon, where a black-headed bird is shown eating a green beetle, the best mechanism of evolution being illustrated is natural selection. This is because the bird's predation favors certain traits (in this case, perhaps the color of the beetles) that affect survival and reproduction. The green beetle being eaten by the bird suggests that its coloration may make it more visible to predators, leading to a change in the population over time as those that are less fit (e.g., more easily seen) are less likely to survive and reproduce.
Which one of the following mechanisms of evolution is best described by this cartoon showing a black-headed bird, with beetles of two different colours?
(You can consider the cartoon to be a time sequence, from left to right, and the black blobby thing in the middle is a bird, eating a green beetle.)
Quiz 2 graphic
Group of answer choices
natural selection
allopatric speciation
migration
random drift
mutation
1 answer