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Evolution in the Back Yard: Census of 750,000 Banded Snails

Started by Tank, August 02, 2011, 09:51:25 AM

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Tank

Evolution in the Back Yard: Census of 750,000 Banded Snails Leads to Surprising Results

QuoteScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2011) — Thousands of members of the public across Europe have taken part in one of the largest evolutionary studies ever, by observing banded snails in their gardens and open public spaces.

More than 6,000 people in 15 European countries took part in the Open University's citizen science project between April and October 2009...

...The expectation was that snail shells would have become lighter, as protection from overheating in sunlight. This was only found to be the case for snails sampled in sand dune habitat, where it is harder for the snails to seek shelter from the heat of the sun. The evolutionary change that was seen everywhere, however, was an unexpected increase in the percentage of snails with a single dark spiral band around the shell...


I was one of the people involned in this as part of a course I did about evolution with the OU.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Sweetdeath

Aww, that's awesome for those snails.  It makes,me happy to see animals evolving for the better.   (i dunno: snails are cute!)
Law 35- "You got to go with what works." - Robin Lefler

Wiggum:"You have that much faith in me, Homer?"
Homer:"No! Faith is what you have in things that don't exist. Your awesomeness is real."

"I was thinking that perhaps this thing called God does not exist. Because He cannot save any one of us. No matter how we pray, He doesn't mend our wounds.