The faster a cheetah can run, the more likely it is to capture its prey. Cheetahs with longer legs are able to run faster than t
hose with shorter legs. Although the existing cheetah population shows a variety of leg lengths, cheetah legs are not continuing to increase in length from one generation to the next. Which of the following is a possible explanation?a. The genes that are involved in cheetah leg length do not undergo mutation. b. Cheetahs with long legs are reproductively isolated from cheetahs with short legs.
c. Natural selection does not act on traits involved in predation.
d. Longer cheetah leg bones are more likely to break.
This is the more likely explanation, as there must be a limit to leg length in an animal that has to run very fast and strain their muscles and bones to the limit to do so.
As for the other options, there is no evidence to conclude that the genes that are involved in cheetahs leg length do not undergo mutation because the population exhibits a variety of leg lengths. Neither can we conclude that there are any isolated subgroups in the pupulation. Natural selection does act upon the traits involved in predation, as the question starts by saying that the faster a cheetah can run the more likely it is to capture its prey.
