Question

A population of bats roosts in a cave in central Tennessee. There are two distinct phenotypes related to hair growth on the bat's body. Hairy individuals are covered with thick brown fur, while bald individuals lack fur on their bodies. This trait is governed by a single gene with two alleles, H and h. The hairy allele, H, is dominant to the bald allele, h.

Researchers counted the population in one small room of the cave in 2005 and again in 2015. They also collected DNA samples for analysis to determine the genotypic ratio of the alleles for the gene in the population. Use the data in the table to analyze the possibility that selection pressure may be operating on this population. Which of the following descriptions is consistent with the data given?

Answer 1

The data suggests that selection pressure may be operating on the population of bats in the cave. The number of bald bats has increased over time, indicating a possible shift in allele frequencies.

Step-by-step explanation:

The data provided in the table suggests that selection pressure may be operating on the population of bats in the cave. In 2005, the majority of the bats were hairy (carrying the dominant H allele), and only a small number were bald (carrying the recessive h allele).

However, in 2015, the number of hairy bats decreased significantly, while the number of bald bats increased. This change in allele frequencies indicates that natural selection is favoring the bald phenotype, possibly due to environmental factors or other selective pressures.