Final answer:
The population of rock pocket mice meets the four criteria for natural selection: variation, heritability, selection, and time.
Step-by-step explanation:
Population of rock pocket mice meet the four criteria for natural selection as follows:
- Variation: There is variation in the body size of the rock pocket mice. Some individuals are larger and some are smaller.
- Heritability: The traits related to body size can be inherited from parents to offspring. If larger mice have an advantage, their offspring are more likely to have larger body sizes.
- Selection: Predators, such as hawks, prey on the rock pocket mice. Larger body size makes them easier targets, while smaller body size allows mice to hide in crevices and survive.
- Time: The process of natural selection takes place over a long period of time, with those individuals who are better adapted to their environment surviving and reproducing.
Therefore, the population of rock pocket mice meets all four criteria for natural selection.