Suppose you are studying a recently discovered population of rock pocket mice with dark-colored fur that lives on volcanic rock. You take a DNA sample from a member of this new population and determine the DNA sequence of a gene known to play a role in fur color. The sequence you get is identical to that of the same gene in another rock pocket mouse population with dark-colored fur that lives on a different patch of volcanic rock. Which of the following could explain this observation? a. The mice in the two populations evolved from the same ancestral population.
b. The volcanic rock caused the same mutation in each rock pocket mouse population, resulting in dark coloration.
c. The same mutation spontaneously arose in the two different populations.
d. Both (a) and (c) are possible.
e. All of the above are possible.