Question

A population of snowshoe hare rabbits lives in a particular region of the arctic tundra that experiences high winds, extremely cold temperatures, and receives very little snow. Their main predator is nocturnal and hunts by sound.
Which of the following mutations would best be classified as an adaptation in this population of snowshoe hares?

• A. Longer and more vascularized ears.
• B. Being less active in the day and more active at night.
• C. A dense undercoat of fur beneath a longer top coat of fur.
• D. A fur coloration pattern that allows them to visually camouflage with their surroundings.

Answer 1

The correct option is A Longer and more vascularized ears.

Adaptations are a way to survive in a habitat with predators. They can be the physical adaptations that help them to camouflage within its surrounding or chemical adaptations which help them to release certain chemicals to paralyse its predators.

In this case, as we have seen that a predator hunt by night and the help of sound so any physical adaptation of camouflage will not help so, the rabbit has large and vascularized here then it helps in identifying the location of predators as in such condition the visibility is very low.

So, the correct option is 'Longer and more vascularized ears'