In a freshwater lake, a population of bony fish called the stickleback were studied over several decades. The presence of armor
plating over the bodies of the males was noted. The data is shown below. What explains the trend shown in the data for the freshwater sticklebacks? A) Armor-plating offered a protection from predation, therefore the presence of armor-plating increased in frequency.
B) Partially plated males were the preferred mating partner with female sticklebacks, causing an increase in partial armor frequency.
C) Armor-plated males were more efficient at migrating to salt water areas for reproduction, resulting in armor-plating increasing in frequency.
D) Armor-plated males were slower at acquiring food compared to the non-armored phenotypes, resulting in non-armored males to increase in frequency.
Changes in groups of organisms over time produce variations in a population. This relates to both macroevolution and microevolution. These are evolutions within a small group or a population and across the whole species.
