Evelyn_Dunlap_Ch

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Gulf Coast State College *

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Geography

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Natural Selection and the Rock Pocket Mouse Note Guide 1. The video setting is the American southwest, New Mexico’s “Valley of Fire”. Describe the landscape in terms of climate and appearance: The landscape in Valley of Fire is sandy with cacti spotting the ground, like most deserts, and then there is also black rock areas that appears all over, that was once lava. This rock flowed from a volcano that erupted about 1 thousand years ago, once hardened it left a new territory in the desert environment. 2. What natural event happened here 1000 years ago and how did it change the landscape? A volcano erupted 1 thousand years ago, and after the lava cooled it became black rocks, which contrasted the desert sands. 3. Predator-prey interactions often drive evolution. Describe this interaction and how the rock pocket mouse avoids predation (in any environment). The rock pocket mouse avoids predation by the color of its fur matching the color of the environment it crawls around on. If it lived in the desert before the black volcanic rock appeared, then this mouse would be the color of the sand. 4. Part of the landscape is blacken by lava rocks. What adaptation has occurred within the rock pocket mouse population that lives among the rocks? Mutations are random, and one mouse had a mutation of dark fur that just so happened to match the landscape of the black lava rocks. Since this black mouse didn’t get killed by a predator, because it blended in, it was able to pass on its mutation to its children. Which also survived more than the original light-haired mice, continuing to pass on this helpful mutation. 5. Put into words why the populations of rock pocket mouse with this new adaptation changed in phenotype over the course of several generations.
The populations of rock pocket mice with this new adaptation changed in phenotype because the environment they originally lived in changed from the light- colored sand to the black lava rock, which originally, they stood out on top of, but after changing in phenotype because of the environmental changes, these mice evolved to have black fur and not stand out to predators. 1. A misconception about evolution exists: “Evolution is random.” Explain how research on the evolution of the rock pocket mouse clears up this misconception. Hint: what are the random and non-random factors in the evolution of the rock pocket mouse? The random factor in evolution is when and where a helpful mutation will occur. But evolution is not random, it was found that in another area of the desert, that also had black rocks, the rock pocket mice also evolved to be black instead of sandy in color. Although the way their mutation formed could have been different than another area in the desert, it still occurred. And the mice in the different areas never came into contact to breed, so neither of their mutations got passed to the other. 2. Evolution does not lead to “perfect” species. Why not? Because the environment is always changing, species are always evolving, and none of the evolutions are going to be perfect, since there is no telling the future of the environmental change. Those black rocks could get buried in sand and disappear for 3 thousand years, those black mice would have to evolve to become the color of the sand again. The missing steps are listed below. Insert the missing step in a blank box in the flowchart. A. Adaptations are passed on to the next generation. B. The accumulation of adaptations may lead to the evolution of a new species. C. These offspring have few or no offspring of their own. D. Some offspring inherit traits that increase fitness (adaptations).
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