Practise AP Biology 7.1.B questions by measuring fitness through reproductive success and predicting how changing environments alter selection in populations.
Existing isolated brook trout populations in Newfoundland, Canada, were once part of a larger population that was fragmented at the end of the most recent glaciation period about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Researchers investigated 14 naturally separated stream populations of brook trout. They found that the populations are all genetically distinct and show differences in morphology.
Brook trout with longer fins are able to swim faster than brook trout with shorter fins. In one of the Newfoundland streams, the main prey of the brook trout evolved to move faster. For brook trout living in this stream, explain the difference in fitness between longer-finned individuals and shorter-finned individuals.
- Individuals with longer fins are more likely to capture prey and reproduce.
1 point