The Mystery of the Color-Changing Mice (1 of 2) (IMAGE)
Caption
As the result of natural selection for crypsis, deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) living on the pale soils of the Nebraska Sand Hills are lighter (top) than deer mice from darker, surrounding areas (bottom). Mice are shown on contrasting soil backgrounds (bottom: Sand Hills soil; top: soil from outside the Sand Hills). This image relates to an article that appeared in the August 28, 2009, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. C.R. Linnen of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and colleagues, was titled, "On The Origin and Spread Of an Adaptive Allele in Deer Mice.”
Credit
Image courtesy of Emily Kay
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