In 1983, a population of dark-eyed junco birds became established on the campus of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), which is located many miles from the junco's normal habitat in the mixed-coniferous temperate forests in the mountains.
Juncos have white outer tail feathers that the males display during aggressive interactions and during courtship displays. Males with more white in their tail are more likely to win aggressive interactions, and females prefer to mate with males with more white in their tails. Females have less white in their tails than do males, and display it less often. (Pamela J. Yeh. 2004. Rapid evolution of a sexually selected trait following population establishment in a novel habitat. Evolution 58[1]:166-74.)
The UCSD campus male junco population tails are about 36% white, whereas the tails of males from nearby mountain populations are about 40-45% white. The founding stock of UCSD birds was likely from the nearby mountain populations because some of those birds overwinter on the UCSD campus each year. Population sizes on the UCSD campus have been reasonably large, and there are significant habitat differences between the UCSD campus and the mountain coniferous forests; UCSD campus has a more open environment (making birds more visible) and a lower junco density (decreasing intraspecific competition) than the mountain forests. Given this information, which of the following evolutionary mechanisms do you think is most likely responsible for the difference between the UCSD and mountain populations?
A) natural selection
B) genetic drift
C) gene flow
D) mutation

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The difference in tail coloration between the UCSD and mountain populations is likely due to natural selection. The males with less white in their tails may have had an advantage in the open, less dense environment of the UCSD campus, where they were more visible to both predators and potential mates. Over time, this could have led to a decrease in the frequency of the alleles for high tail white in the UCSD population. This is supported by the fact that the founding stock of UCSD birds likely came from the nearby mountain populations, which have higher frequencies of the high tail white alleles. Genetic drift, gene flow, and mutation are less likely to explain this pattern, as they do not necessarily result in consistent directional changes in allele frequencies.

In 1983, a Population of Dark-Eyed Junco Birds Became Established