A species of fox lives in the arctic where the ground is covered in white snow most of the year. These arctic foxes hunt rodents and other small mammals, while their predators include eagles, wolves, and polar bears. A mutation on its DNA causes a fox to have white fur rather than brown. Given this information, would you classify this mutation as a harmful, beneficial, or neutral mutation? Would this make the fox more or less likely to survive?

Question

A species of fox lives in the arctic where the ground is covered in white snow most of the year. These arctic foxes hunt rodents and other small mammals, while their predators include eagles, wolves, and polar bears. A mutation on its DNA causes a fox to have white fur rather than brown. Given this information, would you classify this mutation as a harmful, beneficial, or neutral mutation? Would this make the fox more or less likely to survive?

Answer 1

The mutation that causes a fox to have white fur in an arctic environment, where the ground is predominantly covered in white snow, could be classified as a beneficial mutation. Camouflage is an important survival mechanism for both predators and prey, as it allows animals to blend into their environments to avoid detection.

For the arctic foxes, having white fur would likely increase their chance of survival in several ways:

1. **Predation Avoidance:** The white fur would help the fox remain undetected by its predators, such as eagles, wolves, and polar bears. Camouflage is particularly crucial for the fox when it is out in the open and vulnerable to attacks from these predators.

2. **Hunting Efficiency:** Similarly, the white fur would also help the fox when it is hunting rodents and other small mammals. Being less visible against the snowy backdrop would allow the fox to approach its prey more stealthily, potentially leading to a higher success rate in hunting.

Thus, this mutation would make the fox more likely to survive and reproduce, passing the white fur trait to its offspring. In the context of natural selection, beneficial mutations that improve an individual's fitness tend to become more common in the population over generations. As a result, we observe that arctic foxes generally have white fur in the winter, helping them blend in with their snowy surroundings, whereas they have brown or grey fur in the summer months to match the different environment when snow is less prevalent.

In summary, the mutation for white fur in an arctic fox living in a snowy environment is likely a beneficial mutation that increases the fox's fitness by enhancing its camouflage and improving its chances for survival and successful reproduction.