Your snails tell the story of evolution

Evolution MegaLab are encouraging all nature-lovers to take part in an experiment to uncover the pattern of the UK's snail history.

A snail's shell is part of the creature's survival. If it can stop the snail from being eaten, then it is likely to have children with the same coloured shell. But why do snails with one coloured shell live longer than those with different colours?

And if green and brown snails survive in East Anglia, why can't you find any in the Peak District?

According to the scientists behind the website, www.evolutionmegalab.org, it's because the dangers faced by snails in one part of the country are almost totally different to their friends elsewhere.

Tracking down these dangers in one part of the MegaLab mission. But the other is to study how long it takes for snails to adapt - which may help understand the whole of the evolutionary process!

To get started, simply nip out to your back garden or local park, find a few snails, and note down their colours and patterns. Then return to www.evolutionmegalab.org to add your findings to the history of science!

2009-07-28