Hypothesize which bunnies would better survive in the arctic environment.  Why?

The rabbits with white fur because they are able to camouflage better in the snow, making it harder for the predators to spot and kill them.

 

Choose the arctic environment. What happened? Why?

Occasionally a mutation will happen where the bunnies will have brown fur, so there is a mix between white bunnies and brown bunnies. However because they live in the snow, the brown bunnies stand out and are more easily seen.

 

Add wolves.  What happened now? Why?

Because the brown bunnies cannot camouflage and are easily seen, the wolves are given an advantage because it makes it easier for them to spot the bunnies as prey and eat them. The ones that get eaten less are the white bunnies because they are not as visible. Eventually the amount of brown bunnies will decrease because the mutation does not help the organism’s survival and will start getting swept away by the other, more fitted trait.

 

Reset. Press Arctic. Give the bunny white fur. Add friends. Give food. What happened? Why?

The bunnies will start to slowly increase very little by little in population, however in the end will start to decrease and eventually will start to die off. This happens because the size and shape of their teeth is not fit to consume the type of food that is provided for them in the habitat.

 

Reset. Press Arctic. Click long teeth.  Which one is depicted on the chart as a larger population (long or short teeth)? Why do you think this happened?

The population will start to drastically increase because some of the bunnies are aided with bigger and longer teeth, which makes it easier for them to chew and eat the food. Hence they bunnies will gain a lot of energy and nutrition and will speed up the reproduction process.

 

Click on long tails.  Which one is depicted on the chart as a larger population (long or short tail)? Why do you think this happened?

The long tailed bunnies will start to disappear because they prove to be a disadvantage to their everyday life, and is often unnecessary. Long tails are usually advantageous to fast running animals because it helps them with balance and increasing speed, however bunnies that travel by hopping do not need the assistance of long tails in their movement. Instead the longer tails can actually be a nuisance in things like burrowing or hunting because it can slow the down.

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Repeat this experiment (steps 1-6) with the equator environment. Which parameters allow for a better survival rate? Why?

The traits that help the bunnies survive are the same (long teeth and short tails) because the food and activities they do are the same, and require the same traits to help them. However the color makes a difference because they no longer live in the snow. Most of their habitat is brown colored so the brown fur will make it easier for them to camouflage. Hence the most advantageous traits for an equatorial habitat would be short tails, long teeth, and brown fur.