In a complete story, from ecosystem to molecules, pocket mice show us how random changes in the genome can take many paths to the same adaptation-a colored coat that hides them from predators. The biogeography and evolution of the mammalian fauna of the Baja California Peninsula, western Mex- ico, has been a topic of interest to biologists since E. Michael Nachman, whose work in the field and in the lab has quantified the selective pressure of predators and identified the genes involved in adaptation. This speed is essential if you’re a desert mouse living in an environment where a volcanic eruption can reverse selective pressure in nearly an instant. Not only is evolution happening right now everywhere around us, but adaptive changes can occur in a population with remarkable speed. Pacific pocket mouse, Perognathus longimembris pacificus. The rock pocket mouse is a living example of Darwin’s process of natural selection. a Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA. To see the full, 10:25 minute video, please visit /biointeractive/shortfilms/.

Remember that fitness is defined by an organism’s ability to survive and produce offspring in its environment.

Explain why a rock pocket mouse’s color influences its overall fitness. It is an excerpt from an HHMI video entitled 'The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and Adaptation'. Color Variation Over Time in Rock Pocket Mouse Populations Evolution Revised October 2018 of 5 Activity Educator Materials 7. This video is being submitted to the 2012 Labby Multimedia Awards. This film describes natural selection and adaptation in populations of rock pocket mice living in the American Southwest.

Pocket mouse evolution