Complete question:
The white cattail is a hybrid species of plant that is a result of the cross between the broad-leaved cattail and the narrow-leaved cattail. Over time, the white cattail has established itself in the wetlands of Midwestern states.
Which of these explains the success of the white cattail?
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Favorable genes from parental generations provide advantageous characteristics to the hybrid species.
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Hybridization produces offspring traits that allow different species to survive in extreme environments.
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Inherited traits passed on from parental generations make hybrid species more susceptible to disease.
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Hybrid species display more adaptation due to their reduced genetic diversity
Answer:
The correct answer is 1). <em>Favorable genes from parental generations provide advantageous characteristics to the hybrid species.</em>
Explanation:
The broad-leaved cattail and the narrow-leaved cattail are two different species of aquatic plants that can mate and reproduce. The result is the white cattail, which seems to have been established over time, in the wetlands of Midwestern states.
According to other references, the white cattail expresses an intermediate phenotype of almost all traits that characterize the broad-leaved and the narrow-leaved cattail. So this hybrid genotype has been favored by natural selection to establish and expand.
Probably both parental species contributed to the white cattail genotype, providing their better genes to adapt to an environment with variable conditions. The inherited genes from both parentals plants provided the hybrid the advantages to emerge, adapt, reproduce, and establish in the Midwestern region.