Which of the Following is Not Likely to Be a Cause

Question

Which of the following is not likely to be a cause of rapid evolution in a population?
A)a changing environment
B)an organism that exhibits a rapid rate of mutation
C)an organism that reproduces very slowly
D)the immigration of individuals carrying a new allele that significantly increases reproductive success

Accepted Answer

Slow reproduction would decrease the rate of evolution because there would be fewer generations for natural selection to act upon. The other options all provide conditions that could increase the rate of evolution. A changing environment could create new selection pressures and drive evolution. An organism with a rapid rate of mutation could quickly generate new alleles that could be selected for or against. The immigration of individuals carrying a new allele that significantly increases reproductive success would introduce new genetic variation into the population that could be acted upon by natural selection.