BREEDING BUNNIES—Exploring Evolution and Gene Frequency

BACKGROUND: Today you will examine natural selection in a small population of wild
rabbits. Evolution, on a genetic level, is a change in the frequency of alleles in a
population over a period of time. Breeders of rabbits have long been familiar with a
variety of genetic traits that affect the survivability of rabbits in the wild, as well as in
breeding populations. One such trait is the trait for furless rabbits (naked bunnies!). This
trait was first discovered in England in 1933. The naked bunny is rarely found in the
wild because the cold English winters are a definite selective force against it.
BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

LAB INSTRUCTIONS:

• You will work with a partner but each of you will follow these directions and then
just combine your data. You may have a Webex partner as well.
• Get a ziploc bag of black and white beans. Count out 25 black beans and 25
white beans and drop them into a paper bag. Don’t use split or broken beans, ask for more if you
need them.
• The black beans represent the allele for fur (F) and the white beans represent
the allele for no fur (f). The bag represents the English countryside where bunnies randomly
mate!
• Close your paper bag and shake it. Then reach in without looking and draw out
two beans at a time. Two white beans = ff, one black and one white = Ff and two black beans
= FF. Each time you draw out a pair of beans, place them on the bunny sheet in the area marked
for each genotype, FF, Ff, or ff.
• When you have selected all of the beans out of your bag, count the number of
each genotype, ff, Ff, and FF. Add your data to your partner’s data and write these totals in the
columns labeled “INDIVIDUALS” on the data table. (Remember that it takes TWO beans to
make one bunny, so each partner had a total of 25 bunnies from this first round).
• The furless bunnies, genotype ff, are susceptible to cold weather. The cold
weather KILLS them before they are old enough to reproduce. Make a slashline over the
numbers of individuals in the ff column to show that they have died. (Highlight those numbers,
then go to the menu and select Format→ Text→ Strikethrough. They will look like this: 14 )
• Place the alleles (beans) from the ff bunnies back in the ziploc bag since they did
not survive to reproduce, RIP furless ff bunnies! 😭 🐰
• Count the alleles from the FF and Ff bunnies (add in your partner’s data) and
record the numbers on your data sheet in columns labeled “ALLELES.” (Remember you cannot
count the ff bunny beans bc they have died and are not a part of the population anymore).
• Place the alleles (beans) of your surviving rabbits (which have grown, survived
and reached reproductive age) back into the brown paper bag and shake the bag again to get ready
for the next generation.
• Repeat steps #4-9 to obtain information about subsequent generations and
continue to fill out your data table, combining your data with your partner’s data.
• After you have completed 10 rounds or run out of new combinations, calculate
the allele frequencies using the formula printed on the sheet and write them in the columns
labeled “ALLELE FREQUENCIES.” Look at the sample calculations if you are confused.
GENERATION
INDIVIDUALS
ALLELES
ALLELE FREQUENCIES

ff
Ff
FF
F
f
F+f
F ÷ (F + f)
f ÷ (F + f)
sample

1
11
28
11
50
28
78
50/78 = .64
28/78 = .36
2
7
14
18
50
14
64
50/64 = .78
14/64 = .22
1
5
15
5
15
15
40
25/40=0.63
15/40=0.38
2
2
11
7
25
11
36
25/36=0.69
11/36=0.31
3
1
9
8
25
9
34
25/34=0.74
9/34=0.26
4

7
8

10

ANALYSIS QUESTIONS

1. How does natural selection affect gene frequency over several generations?
2. Compare the number of alleles for the dominant characteristic (F) with the number of
alleles for the recessive characteristic (f).

3. In a real rabbit habitat new bunnies often come into the habitat (immigrate) and
others leave the area (emigrate).
a. How might immigration and emigration affect the gene frequency of F and
f in this population of rabbits?

b. How might you simulate this effect if you were to repeat this activity
again?

4. How do your results compare with the class data? If they are very different, why
are they different?

5. How are the results of this simulation an example of evolution?

6. What would happen if a gene pool stayed the same at all times in a population?

7. What FIVE conditions must be met for NO EVOLUTION to occur? (HINT: Check your class
notes)