A biologist doing a long-term study on a wild spider population observes increased variation in silk thickness.
Which of the following could the spider population be experiencing?
A) directional selection
B) stabilizing selection
C) disruptive selection
D) genetic drift

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Disruptive selection favors extreme traits over intermediate ones, which can lead to increased variation within a population. In this case, spiders with thicker silk and spiders with thinner silk may both be favored by selection, leading to increased variation in silk thickness.

A Biologist Doing a Long-Term Study on a Wild Spider