Why Was It Informative for Researchers Studying Evolution of Oldfield

question 9

Multiple Choice

Why was it informative for researchers studying evolution of oldfield mouse coat color to find the genes responsible for the light coat color of many beach populations?

• A) Natural selection can only result in evolutionary change if variation in the trait of interest has a heritable, genetic component.
• B) The only way to understand trait evolution is to determine the molecular mechanism of change.
• C) If light coat color is caused by the same gene in all of the beach populations, this would mean that it did not evolve from dark-colored coats.
• D) Knowing the genetic basis of coat color in the different populations allowed the researchers to determine the norm of reaction for this trait.