Imagine a population of mice living in a grey, rocky environment. Some mice are grey and some are brown. If natural selection occurs in this population, what would you expect to see if you returned in 100 mouse generations? Describe what you'd see in terms of fur colors in the population.

Answer the following questions about evolution. Number your responses according to the questions (1-4). 

1. How can negative traits that don't show up until old age continue in populations? (Why aren't they eliminated through natural selection?) As part of your answer, provide an example. 
2. Imagine a population of mice living in a grey, rocky environment. Some mice are grey and some are brown. If natural selection occurs in this population, what would you expect to see if you returned in 100 mouse generations? Describe what you'd see in terms of fur colors in the population. 
3. Imagine a population of mice living in a grey, rocky environment. Some mice are grey and some are brown. If mutations occur in this population, what could you see if you returned in 100 mouse generations, that would tell you mutations had occurred? Describe what you'd see in terms of fur colors in the population, and how it would be different from what you'd see in #2. 
4. If dark skin helps protect folate and that's so important for fetal development, why didn't all humans evolve to have dark skin? Why did humans living in the north and south evolve lighter skin? Use knowledge from the evolution lab to answer.