Assignment #6

    A population of snails is preyed upon by birds that break the snails open on rocks, eat the soft soft bodies, and leave the shells.  The snails occur in both striped and unstriped forms.  In one area, researchers counted both live snails and broken shells.  The data is summarized below:

                                Striped        Unstriped        Total        Percent Striped

    Living                    264              296                  560                  47.1

    Broken                  486              377                  863                  56.3

    1) Which snail form seems to be better adapted to this environment and why?

    2) Predict how the frequencies of striped and unstriped individuals might change in the future.