Final answer:
In a type show, entries of two or more rabbits of the same breed, variety, age, and sex are referred to as a class. The coat color in rabbits, determined by multiple alleles, plays a role in their survival, exhibiting a process known as diversifying selection. Gray and Himalayan rabbits are favored in a rocky environment due to their coloring, contrasting with white rabbits.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of a type show, entries of two or more rabbits of the same breed, variety, age, and sex are typically referred to as a class. Such classification is intended to allow for equitable comparison and evaluation of the animals based on their breed standards. In terms of the given hypothetical population of rabbits, we can infer that coat color in rabbits could affect their survival and thereby influence the process of natural selection.
In this hypothetical situation, gray and Himalayan rabbits blend better with a rocky environment compared to white rabbits, which illustrates a phenomenon known as diversifying selection. Here, diversifying selection favors these two coat colors because they confer a camouflaging advantage in their respective environment, allowing these rabbits a better chance of eluding predators and thus having a higher likelihood of surviving and reproducing.
The genetics of coat color in rabbits is indeed quite fascinating as it involves multiple alleles. There are four known alleles for the rabbit coat color gene (C): the wild-type allele (C+C+), the chinchilla allele (cchcch), the Himalayan allele (chch), and the colorless, albino allele (cc). The wild-type phenotype is dominant over the other phenotypes, with varying degrees of dominance creating a hierarchy among the alleles. Each allele is associated with a different pigmentation pattern, which can directly affect a rabbit's survival.