Mollusks, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 15, 2013

Attack of the Giant Snails!

They're big, they're slimy, and they're eating their way across Florida. The giant African land snail (Achatina fulica) can grow as large as a rat. They live up to nine years and have the annoying habit of eating through stucco and plaster walls for the calcium they need to grow...

Sep 13, 2013

New See-Through Snail Discovered Deep Underground

A new snail species with a beautifully translucent shell was recently discovered more than 3,000 feet (914 meters) underground in a Croatian cave. A team of cavers and biologists with the Croatian Biospeleological Society discovered Zospeum tholussum in the Lukina Jama-Trojama cave systems of western Croatia — one of the...

Sep 17, 2013

Snail Gets Spots to Fool Predators

A freshwater snail common in ponds across Europe can adjust its pigmentation in response to certain environmental stressors, new research suggests. Radix balthica, spanning less than a half-inch (0.8 centimeters) in length, sports dark body pigmentation that is visible through its translucent yellow shell. Individuals vary in skin pattern, with...

Nov 7, 2013

Stress Makes Snails Forgetful

When humans are stressed out, they often have a tough time remembering things — and, it seems, the same goes for pond snails, according to a new study. Researchers found that when pond snails are placed in an overcrowded pail or deprived of calcium, a mineral necessary for shell growth...

Mar 25, 2014

These Snail Beauties Are On the Brink of Extinction

They look like ethereal little beings from another planet, but they're actually newly discovered species of snails. And unfortunately, some of them are already going extinct. A team of biologists catalogued 31 species of the snail genus Plectostoma from Malaysia, Sumatra and Thailand, 10 of which were new to science....

Mar 25, 2014

Photos: Gorgeous Neon Malaysian Snails

Plectostoma laidlawi (Image credit: Liew Thor-Seng)They look like ethereal beings from another planet, but they're actually newly discovered species of snails. And sadly, some of them are already going extinct.Read full story Plectostoma salpidomon (Image credit: Liew Thor-Seng)A team of biologists catalogued 31 species of the snail genus Plectostoma from...

May 22, 2014

Transparent Snails & 'Fairy' Wasps: Top 10 New Species Revealed

A fuzzy-faced, tree-living carnivore, a transparent snail and ice-clinging anemones are among the top new species discovered in the last year. The 2014 top 10 list, put together by the International Institute for Species Exploration at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, highlights the most amazing species discovered...

Jun 25, 2014

Squatter Beetles Eat Snails and Steal Shells

The awkward stage of adolescence drives some insects to murderous home invasion. When the time comes to shed their skin, certain beetle larvae in Greece scout out a sleeping snail, break into its shell, eat the victim alive and then squat in its home for days. But the snail targets...

Jan 23, 2015

Venomous Cone Snails Weaponize Insulin to Stun Prey

At least two species of cone snail have turned insulin into an underwater weapon, a new study finds. When these stealthy aquatic snails approach their prey, they release insulin, a hormone that can cause blood sugar levels to plummet. Nearby fish don't stand a chance. The sudden influx of insulin...

Sep 28, 2015

Tiniest Snail Ever Found Could Fit Through Needle's Eye 10 Times

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Who knows? But 10 Angustopila dominikae snails can fit within the eye of a needle. The newly discovered snail species, found in China, may be the world's smallest land snail. The height of its shell is only 0.03 inches...

Nov 2, 2015

Micro Mollusk Breaks Record for World's Tiniest Snail

An itsy-bitsy mollusk in Borneo is the new record holder for the world's smallest known snail, a new study finds. Its shiny, translucent, white shell has an average height of 0.027 inches (0.7 millimeters), breaking the previously held record by about a tenth of a millimeter. The former champion —...

Feb 13, 2016

Animal Sex: How Love Dart–Shooting Snails Do It

This Valentine's Day, mischievous Cupid will be fluttering about with bow in hand, seeking out mortal hearts to pierce with his love-tinged arrows. But the winged god isn't the only one known for this kind of behavior — oddly, land snails are also known to shoot love darts. Land snails...

Oct 25, 2016

Tweet #SnailLove to Help Lonely Mollusk Find a Mate

If only there were an online dating site like Tinder or OkCupid for snails. Then Jeremy, a very unusual snail found in an English garden, might have a better chance of finding love. The mollusk is rare — a one-in-a-million discovery — and his chances of finding a mate will...

Nov 16, 2016

Love at Last! Rare 'Lefty' Snail Finds Mollusk Mate

Jeremy, a snail with a rare left-spiraling shell, is lonely no more. After a vast media campaign designed to help the mollusk find a left-spiraled mate, two matches have oozed forward, in a manner of speaking. The double discovery astonished Jeremy's keeper, Angus Davison, an associate professor and reader in...

Nov 18, 2016

Giant Owls and Painted Snails: Incredible Creatures from Cuba, In Photos

Island biodiversity (Image credit: Copyright AMNH/D. Finnin)¡Cuba!, a new exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), explores the extraordinary biodiversity across the Caribbean island’s remote forests, mysterious caves, expansive wetlands, and dazzling reefs through immersive exhibits that have been developed with colleagues from the Cuban National Museum of...