Question

describe what happens to the fur of a Himalayan rabbit after prolonged exposure to a low temperature. The change in fur color is most likely due to 1) the effect of heredity on gene expression 2) the arrangement of genes on chromosomes 3) environmental influence on gere action 4) mutations resulting from a change in the environment

Answer 1

The Himalayan Rabbit sports black fur on its extremities. This is due to an ancestral trait; the Himalayan Rabbits carry “temperature sensitive tyrosinase genes” which controls fur pigmentation. The rabbit’s ancestors, which would have had to survive in the cold Himalayan environment would have, through natural selection, favored a gene that allows for a darker pigmentation. Through evolution the Himalayan Rabbit passed down the genotype for a melanin producing gene, which activates in low temperatures, changing the individual rabbit’s phenotype to fit the climate.

So your answer is choice 1

Hope this helped!
~xox Melis