How Does Natural Selection Affect The Bivalves?

Introduction

Evolution is the change in genetic composition of organisms between generations. Evolution is the process that results in organisms becoming more varied and better adapted in comparison to their ancestors. The driving force of evolution is natural selection. Natural selection is the process where individuals containing specific traits become more likely to survive compared to individuals without those traits. Because certain individuals have a greater chance to survive, they become more likely to reproduce yielding offspring that contain the same favored characteristics. As this occurs, the number of individuals with preferred traits become more abundant while the population of individuals without these traits begins to decrease, possibly even reaching the point of complete elimination. In lab, natural selection was observed by studying the predated and survival rates of bivalve mollusks. These rates reflected the interaction between the selective pressures and the adaptive traits of the bivalves. In the experiment, the selective pressure that affected the bivalves was the predation they faced from moon snails. The adaptive trait that was observed was the
This conclusion is based on the moon snail’s preference of preying on the small to moderate sized bivalves. Because smaller bivalves are more likely to be preyed upon both the incongruous and blood ark populations will evolve in favor of having a larger shell in order to better survive against their environmental factors. This conclusion is further supported by the type of selection seen within the incongruous and blood ark populations, which was directional. Because one extreme seemed to be favored in terms of survival the frequency of the bivalve population will most likely shift towards the larger sized