Consider the following hypothetical scenario: An ancestral species of duck had a varied diet that included aquatic plants and terrestrial plants and insects. These ducks spent time on both land and water. Individuals of this species varied in the amount of webbing in their feet, with some individuals having more webbing and some having less. As many years went by, the environment changed such that the aquatic food sources were much more plentiful than those on land. Many generations later, almost all ducks had more webbing on their feet. How is this best explained?

Question

Damian Clay

Biology

12 September, 06:58

Consider the following hypothetical scenario: An ancestral species of duck had a varied diet that included aquatic plants and terrestrial plants and insects. These ducks spent time on both land and water. Individuals of this species varied in the amount of webbing in their feet, with some individuals having more webbing and some having less. As many years went by, the environment changed such that the aquatic food sources were much more plentiful than those on land. Many generations later, almost all ducks had more webbing on their feet. How is this best explained?

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Answers (1)

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Gross · Answer 1

Almost all ducks had more webbing on their feet due to increase in population of aquatic ducks.

Explanation:

The population of ducks having more webbing increases due to the availability of food that lives in the water while the population of ducks that are living on the land surface decreases due to unavailability of food for the ducks. So almost all ducks had more webbing on their feet in the future because of climate change which increases food availability for aquatic ducks.