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Summary: Scientists wanted to find out how sea snails were adapting to new habitats in colder waters.

Abstract: If you lived in sunny California, would you want to move north? Well, some sea snails are doing exactly that! We were curious about Kellet’s whelks, a type of sea snail. They usually live in the warm waters of Southern California and Mexico. Now, we’re finding them further north in colder water! 

We collected Kellet’s whelks from the California coast – some from the south and some from the north. We kept them in separate tanks with identical conditions. Then we compared the DNA of their babies.

The northern snails had 2,770 genes that were working differently. These differences were so clear that we could tell if a baby snail’s parents came from the south or north just by looking at its DNA. We also found that the northern snails’ genes show some changes that help them survive in the colder water up north! Our findings are helping scientists understand how ocean animals are adapting to a changing climate.

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