the ability of the snake to survive to reproduce the appearance of other new traits in the baby snake the history of the pattern in previous snake populations the presence of thermal energy changing the snake pattern
I gave my students this multiple choice question: In a population of brown snakes, a snake is born with a white-spotted pattern. Which factor will have the most influence on whether this trait will become common in the brown snake population?

Only one answer is correct among these 4 choices:
- the ability of the snake to survive to reproduce
- the appearance of other new traits in the baby snake
- the history of the pattern in previous snake populations
- the presence of thermal energy changing the snake pattern

Could you tell me which one is correct?

the ability of the snake to survive to reproduce