Salt is dangerous to land snails. It will rapidly kill them. However, some populations of aquatic, freshwater snail have adapatations that allow them to live in a mix of salt and fresh water. This allows them to live in different parts of a river system. A group of scientists monitored salt concentrations in the habitats of two freshwater snail populations. They recorded the salt level as follows (in ppt, parts per thousand):

Question

Salt is dangerous to land snails. It will rapidly kill them. However, some populations of aquatic, freshwater snail have adapatations that allow them to live in a mix of salt and fresh water.  This allows them to live in different parts of a river system. A group of scientists monitored salt concentrations in the habitats of two freshwater snail populations. They recorded the salt level as follows (in ppt, parts per thousand):

Location 1 (Day 1):  0.1 ppt (morning), 0.0 ppt (afternoon), 0.1 ppt (evening)

Location 2 (Day 1):  0.3 ppt (morning), 0.5 ppt (afternoon), 0.2 ppt (evening)

In   2 sentences, describe in which population you'd expect to see more adaptations for salt water. Make sure to also explain how such adaptations would become more common in this population.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

I would expect to see more adaptations for salt water in Location 2, since the snails there are exposed to higher salt concentrations (up to 0.5 ppt) compared to Location 1, where the salt levels are consistently lower (maximum of 0.1 ppt). Over time, natural selection would favor individuals in Location 2 that possess traits allowing them to tolerate and thrive in saline conditions, leading to a greater prevalence of these adaptations in subsequent generations.