A population of deer mice with light-colored coats lives in Sand Hills, Nebraska. The ground in Sand Hills is light colored wher
e glaciers have deposited sand on top of dark soil. In contrast, areas outside Sand Hills have dark soil and dark-coated mice. What explains the different mice populations? A. Mice living on light-colored sand learned to disguise themselves from predators.
B. Light-colored coats were selected for on light-colored sand.
C. Light-colored mice learned to adapt to light-colored sand.
D. Dark body color became an adaptation in mice on light-colored sand.
B. Light-colored coats were selected for on light-colored sand.
Explanation:
Naturalselection is the process by which nature selects individuals with a particular phenotype that allows them to survive better in the given environment.
In the case given, the deer mice with light color coat tare able to survive better on a light colored sand as compared to dark-colored mice, this is because the light colored mice can camouflage on a light colored sand.
Camouflaging helps the light colored mice to avoid predators but as the dark-colored mice cannot do so on light colored sand they are more prone to predation and hence are eliminated by natural selection.