A mountain separates a population of mice into two distinct eastern and western populations. The eastern area is inhabited by owls, which hunt at night. No owls live in the western area. Over time, the eastern population of mice will MOST LIKELY
Responses
A become more active at night.become more active at night.
B remain identical with the western population.remain identical with the western population.
C change over time and become less active at night.change over time and become less active at night.
D grow stronger claws and teeth to better fight the owls.
C change over time and become less active at night.
The correct answer is A) become more active at night. This is because the owls in the eastern area hunt at night, so mice that are more active and alert during the night will have a higher chance of survival. Over time, the mice in the eastern population will likely develop behaviors or adaptations that help them evade owls and increase their chances of survival.
The most likely answer is A: become more active at night.
To understand why this is the case, let's consider the concept of natural selection. Natural selection is the process by which certain traits become more or less common in a population over time, based on the pressures of the environment. In this scenario, the presence of owls in the eastern area creates a selective pressure on the mice.
Since owls hunt at night, the mice that are more active and alert at night have a higher chance of avoiding being caught and eaten. Conversely, mice that are less active or easily spotted by owls are at a disadvantage and are more likely to be preyed upon.
Over time, the mice that have a genetic predisposition for being more active at night will have a higher survival rate than the less active mice. They are more likely to pass on their genes to the next generation, leading to an increase in the prevalence of genes for increased nocturnal activity within the population.
On the other hand, in the western area where there are no owls hunting at night, there is no strong selective pressure favoring mice with increased nocturnal activity. Therefore, the western population of mice is likely to remain identical to the eastern population in terms of their activity patterns.
Therefore, the eastern population of mice is most likely to become more active at night over time as a result of natural selection and the pressure to avoid predation by owls.