A population of voles (small mammals)lives in a shady forest.Originally,the voles are a light tan color,but then a dark brown coloration arises by a new mutation.The darker voles are harder for predators to see in the leaf litter,thus they are less susceptible to predation.After 10 generations,the majority of voles in the population are the dark brown color.In the figure below,the solid red line represents the number of light colored individuals before the mutation and the black dashed line represents the number of dark brown individuals after 10 generations.What type of natural selection is the population of voles experiencing?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The population of voles is experiencing directional selection because the shift in coloration towards the dark brown coloration is driven by the selective advantage of being less visible to predators, leading to an increase in the frequency of the beneficial trait (dark brown coloration) over time.

A Population of Voles (Small Mammals)lives in a Shady Forest