Biology Summary
A population of grasshoppers in the Kansas prairie has two color phenotypes, green and brown. Typically, the prairie receives adequate water to maintain healthy, green grass. Assume a population of birds that eats grasshoppers moves into the prairie. How will that affect natural selection of the grasshoppers? How might this change in a drought year?
In this instance the grasshoppers which are most suitably adapted to current conditions will be far more likely to survive. In normal conditions, when the prairie is adequately hydrated to keep grasses healthy and green, those grasshoppers with green coloration will be naturally camouflaged and will escape predation by newly arriving birds. Conversely, the brown grasshoppers will stand out against the green backdrop and will easily be picked off by voracious birds, leaving mostly green insects to repopulate the prairie as the population of brown grasshoppers is depleted. In drought conditions, however, the situation would reverse itself, as the dried and dying grasses would soon turn brown. This shift in the natural environment around...
Based on what you know about DNA structure, explain why these data do not make sense.
It has been firmly established that guanine always bonds to cytosine and this bond must occur in equal proportions. Having 30% guanine with only 20% cytosine would be genetically impossible. The correct formulation with a guanine level at 30% would be 30% cytosine, with the remaining 40% split equally between adenine (20%) and thymine (20%).
You are asked to determine if two species have a common evolutionary ancestor. Describe the methods or processes that you would use to determine if they have a common ancestor. Discuss why similar structures in the two species (such as wings or claws) may not necessarily indicate evolution from a common ancestor.
I would begin…
