A male cardinal's red color is an example of a trait affected by natural selection. The females of the species choose mates
based on the vibrant colors of the males' feathers. If females begin using different criteria than feather color when they choose
mates, what would most likely happen to the color of the male cardinals over time?
increased yariation in the shades of red because there is no advantage in one specific color

In the cardinals, if the females start using a different criterion than the color of the feather when they choose couple, most likely to happen is that decreased variation in the shades of red because no form of the trait is advantageous.

Explanation:

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In the context of natural selection, male cardinals court females using the coloring of their feathers as a form of sexual selection. This means that the shades of red in the feathers are a selection criterion in these birds, and the more visible shades represent an advantage.

But, if the selection criterion was not the color of the feathers, this trait would no longer represent an advantage in the competition between the males to be chosen as a mate. Instead, the trait that would determine sexual selection would be the one that experiences an increase in its variation.

the diploid number of chromosomes is sometimes represented by the symbol 2n. for the fruit fly, the diploid number is 8, which can be written as 2n = 8, where n represents twice the number of chromosomes in a sperm or egg cell.