Solving the Newt Mystery
Solve the rough-skinned newt mystery by applying natural selection principles in Grade 8 science. Students learn how the garter snake acted as selection pressure, causing high-poison newts to survive and reproduce while low-poison newts were eliminated, shifting the population's traits.
Key Concepts
We can now explain the rough skinned newt mystery. The environmental pressure was a predator: the Garter Snake .
Snakes began eating the newts. In this environment, "high poison" became an adaptive trait . Newts with low poison were eaten and did not reproduce. Newts with high poison survived the snakes and reproduced.
Common Questions
How did the garter snake cause newts to become more poisonous?
The garter snake acted as a selection pressure—it ate newts as prey. Newts with low poison levels were easier to consume, so they were eaten and did not reproduce. Newts with high poison survived the snake and passed their high-poison genes to offspring.
What makes the garter snake the key to solving the newt mystery?
The garter snake is the environmental pressure that made high poison an adaptive trait. Without a predator that toxin could deter, high poison would offer no survival advantage. The snake's presence is what turned a random trait variation into a life-or-death selective advantage.
What does the newt mystery teach about natural selection?
It shows the complete natural selection mechanism: variation existed in the population (some newts had more poison), environmental pressure applied (snake predation), and the adaptive trait (high poison) increased survival and reproduction, shifting the population over generations.