Date | May 2022 | Marks available | 1 | Reference code | 22M.1.HL.TZ2.36 |
Level | Higher level | Paper | Paper 1 | Time zone | Time zone 2 |
Command term | Question number | 36 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Three-spined stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) vary in the number of armour plates. The graph shows the frequency of individuals with low, partial or complete plating in a three-spined stickleback population living in Kennedy Lake, Vancouver Island, Canada.
[Source: Reprinted from Current Biology, 24, Marchinko, K.B., Matthews, B., Arnegard, M.E., Rogers, S.M. and Schluter, D., Maintenance of a Genetic Polymorphism with Disruptive Natural Selection in Stickleback.
2014. pp.1289–1292 with permission from Elsevier.]
Which type of natural selection could result in this pattern of variation in the population?
A. Disruptive
B. Directional
C. Stabilizing
D. Convergent
Markscheme
A