1. Natural selection: Snails with yellow bands on their shells may have had an advantage in blending in with the light-colored grass, making them less likely to be preyed upon by predators. Over time, these snails would have been more successful in reproducing and passing on their genes, resulting in an increase in the number of snails with yellow bands.
2. Genetic drift: By chance, the initial population of snails may have had more individuals with yellow bands than brown bands. As time passed, random fluctuations in allele frequencies could have caused the yellow-banded snails to become more prevalent in the population.
3. Mutation: A genetic mutation may have occurred that caused snails to develop shells with yellow bands more frequently than brown bands. If this mutation provided a selective advantage in the environment, it would have spread through the population over time.
A population of land snails colonized a field of light-colored grass. At first, the population contained two types of snails, one with brown bands on their shells and another with yellow bands on their shells. After 10 years, most of the snails have shells with yellow bands. Which process most likely led to an increase in the number of snails with yellow bands? (1 point) Responses
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