Research Paper on:
The Garter Snake, Thamnophis elegans, and Geographical Feeding Variations

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Introduction Geographic variance is a common occurrence among many species of animals. This  variance can either manifest in easily discernible traits such as color or size or in somewhat more difficult to discern traits such as behavior. Feeding variance is a particularly  interesting trait to explore in regard to geographic variation. The common garter snake (Thamnophis elegans), for example, is known to differ geographically in terms of its preferred prey.  Author Stevan J. Arnold explored this geographic variation in an article published in the journal "Evolution" in 1981 entitled "Behavioral variation in natural populations. II. The inheritance of a  feeding response in crosses between geographical races of the garter snake, Thamnophis elegans". His work represents one of just a few studies which have explored geographic variation from a  behavioral standpoint. Arnold (1981) chose to investigate the slug-eating behavior which typifies garter snake populations in mollusk-rich environments, asserting that his study "represents the most thorough documentation of geographic  variation in behavior in the vertebrate literature". Arnold (1981) explores the tendency of Thamnophis elegans to eat slugs along the coast of California.  He explains that the mollusk population in this area has resulted in this adaptation and that slugs in this area, in fact, comprise in excess of ninety percent of  Thamnophis elegans diet (Arnold, 1981). Arnold (1981) clarifies that in the absence of the slug-rich California coastline, Thamnophis elegans consume more vertebrates, primarily frogs and fish. Arnold (1981)  asserts that the slug-eating behavior noted in California coastal Thamnophis elegans is a behavior which is present at birth and is thus not learned. He observes that even newborn