Crab scars reveal survival advantage of left-handed snails.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dietl GP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1686199 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Crab scars reveal survival advantage of left-handed snails.
Dietl Gregory P GP Hendricks Jonathan R JR
Biology letters 20060901 3
Biological asymmetries are important elements of the structure and function of many living organisms. Using the Plio-Pleistocene fossil record of crab predation on morphologically similar pairs of right- and left-handed snail species, we show here for the first time, contrary to traditional wisdom, that rare left-handed coiling promotes survival from attacks by right-handed crabs. This frequency-dependent result influences the balance of selection processes that maintain left-handedness at the s ...[more]
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