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The stark, white dunes of White Sands, N.M., are an ideal environment to observe evolution in action. These dunes are geologically very young--only a few thousand years old--and in that time, a number of animals have adapted to this new environment. Natural selection has favored lighter colored animals on the dunes for camouflage against the white sand and avoidance of predators.
Species of mammal, reptile and insect have rapidly developed adaptations to this unusual environment.Image credit: Erica Bree Rosenblum, University of Idaho
