Which statement best explains why the newt population became extremely poisonous over many generations?

A change in climate made the newts' environment more dangerous, forcing them all to produce stronger poison.

Newts with inherited traits for higher poison levels were more likely to survive predation and reproduce.

The newts learned how to create more poison from their parents and taught this skill to their offspring.

Over time, the 'low poison' genes in individual newts mutated and transformed into 'high poison' genes.

The principle of natural selection states that evolutionary change occurs at the population level. What does this mean for an individual newt?

It cannot change its inherited genetic makeup to become more poisonous during its lifetime.

Its level of poison can change dramatically from day to day depending on its diet and health.

It will automatically become more poisonous if other newts in the area are also highly poisonous.

It can consciously decide to become less poisonous to save energy if there are no predators around.

The light-colored moths will try harder to hide and will eventually learn to survive just as well as the dark moths.

The proportion of dark-colored moths in the population will likely increase.

The moths will migrate to a new forest that has light-colored trees.

All the light-colored moths will change to a dark color within their own lifetime to match the new background.

The availability of food sources that contain the chemicals needed for poison production.

Competition between individual newts for territory and mating rights.

The presence of predators that are deterred by the poison.

Changes in the average temperature and rainfall in the newts' habitat.

The newts would rapidly evolve an even more powerful and complex type of poison to combat the new threat.

The survival advantage of being highly poisonous would be reduced or eliminated.

All newts in the population would immediately and completely lose their ability to produce poison.

The newts would quickly develop an entirely different defense mechanism, like camouflage, within a single generation.