In a certain population of mice, individuals can have either tan, brown, or black fur.
At some point in time, the mouse population experienced a change in its environment. This change led to a shift in the number of individuals with different fur colors in the population.
The figure below shows the number of mice with tan, brown, or black fur both before, and multiple years after, the environmental change.
A figure shows two bar graphs. The bar graph on the left is titled Before environmental change. It shows Number of mice on the y-axis and Mouse color on the x-axis. There are three bars. The bar labeled Tan goes to about 15 mice. The bar labeled Brown goes to about 30 mice. The bar labeled Black goes to about 95 mice. An arrow points from the bar graph on the left to the bar graph on the right. The bar graph on the right is titled After environmental change. It shows Number of mice on the y-axis and Mouse color on the x-axis. There are three bars. The bar labeled Tan goes to about 95 mice. The bar labeled Brown goes to about 25 mice. The bar labeled Black goes to about 15 mice.
A figure shows two bar graphs. The bar graph on the left is titled Before environmental change. It shows Number of mice on the y-axis and Mouse color on the x-axis. There are three bars. The bar labeled Tan goes to about 15 mice. The bar labeled Brown goes to about 30 mice. The bar labeled Black goes to about 95 mice. An arrow points from the bar graph on the left to the bar graph on the right. The bar graph on the right is titled After environmental change. It shows Number of mice on the y-axis and Mouse color on the x-axis. There are three bars. The bar labeled Tan goes to about 95 mice. The bar labeled Brown goes to about 25 mice. The bar labeled Black goes to about 15 mice.
Which of these environmental changes could have led to the trend shown in the figure?
Choose 1 answer:
Choose 1 answer:
(Choice A) an increase in the area covered by dark lava rock
A
an increase in the area covered by dark lava rock
(Choice B) an increase in the area covered by light-colored sand
B
an increase in the area covered by light-colored sand
(Choice A) an increase in the area covered by dark lava rock
The shift in fur color from black to tan in the mouse population suggests that there was an environmental change that favored mice with tan fur, which blended in better with the dark lava rock environment. Conversely, mice with black fur were less camouflaged against this background, resulting in a decrease in their population. Therefore, an increase in the area covered by dark lava rock could have led to the trend shown in the figure.