In a population of mice, individuals with medium brown fur are less likely to be seen by predators than light brown and dark brown mice what type of selection is this and what would the distribution for the mouse population look like would it be disruptive to peaks at either end of the graph, with a dip in the middle, or disrupted a tall arrow peak in the center of the graph, or stabilizing, a tall, narrow peak in the center of the graph, or stabilizing two peaks at either end of the graph with a dip in the middle

Question

In a population of mice, individuals with medium brown fur are less likely to be seen by predators than light brown and dark brown mice what type of selection is this and what would the distribution for the mouse population look like would it be disruptive to peaks at either end of the graph, with a dip in the middle, or disrupted a tall arrow peak in the center of the graph, or stabilizing, a tall, narrow peak in the center of the graph, or stabilizing two peaks at either end of the graph with a dip in the middle

Answer 1

The type of selection in this scenario is disruptive selection. Disruptive selection occurs when individuals with extreme traits have a higher fitness compared to individuals with intermediate traits.

In the case of the mouse population, individuals with light brown fur and dark brown fur are less likely to survive due to higher predation rates. On the other hand, individuals with medium brown fur are better camouflaged and have a higher chance of survival. This leads to the selection and maintenance of two distinct peaks at either end of the distribution graph, with a dip in the middle.

So, the distribution of the mouse population would show a dip in the middle, indicating lower frequency or proportion of individuals with medium brown fur, and two peaks at either end representing the higher frequency of light brown and dark brown fur individuals.