A small population of plant eating snails colonizes an island. the snail populat

Question

A small population of plant eating snails colonizes an island. the snail population includes individuals with a variety of shell colors ranging from very light to very dark and everything in between. The snails's preferred food plants, where the snails spend most of their time, are either very light or very dark. The snail's main predators are birds that locate the snails by sight.

a.) given this information, which snails are more likely vulnerable to predation by birds? Explain.

b.) In terms of shell color frequencies, predict how the snail population on this island might change over the course of several generations.

c.) Name the microevolutionary mechanism at work.

Explanation / Answer

a) In the given case, the variety of shell colored snails ranging from very light to very dark are found on an island. The dark colors can be easily identified by sight. Thus, the dark colored snails are more vulnerable to predation.

b) The natural selection in the given case is predation by birds. The dark colored snails are more vulnerable to predation, thus the light colored snails population increases over the course of several generations.

c) The microevolution is the process by which the organism changes over several generations. The microevolution is caused due to mutation, genetic drift, migration, and natural selection. In the given case, consider there is no migration, mutation, and genetic drift in the snails, then the only cause is natural selection that includes predation by birds.

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