Question

A population of mussels was observed in a particular ecosystem. crabs have recently been observed occupying this ecosystem, which is a novel environment for this crab species. it was found that crabs preferred these mussels as their favorite food. a few of these mussels developed a thicker shell to protect themselves from crabs found in the region. which three statements does this adaptation suggest?

Answer 1

The correct statements are 1, 2, and 5 as they explain the adaptations that mussels developed to prevent their extinction and how this aided them in natural selection.

Crabs are omnivores. The smaller crabs can eat seaweed, worms, shrimp, algae, etc while the larger ones can eat mussels, snails, and squid. Crabs can change their feeding grounds because of environmental changes. Mussels being the prey of crabs were forced the development of new traits to ensure their survival. They started to produce thicker shells. This allowed the mussels with thicker shells to survive as they would not get eaten by the crabs, thus undergoing natural selection. The development of said trait improved the survival rate of mussels and prevented them from going extinct due to predation.

Note: The question seems to be incomplete and the options could have been

1. "A change in the environment led to a new distribution of traits in a population.
2. The trait of shell thickening underwent natural selection.
3. The trait for shell thickening will not be selected by future mussel generations.
4. Half of the mussel population developed the trait while the other half did not.
5. Mussels with the shell thickening trait had a greater chance of survival."

Learn more about adaptations and natural selection here:

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