Almost all shells open on the right-hand side, with the exception of a few snail species whose shells open on the left. If you find a shell that opens on the left (as long as it's from a normally right-hand species), you have a rare shell sometimes highly sought by collectors. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas…
Volcano snails exist. They live near hydrothermal vents in temperatures upto 750 degrees Fahrenheit and have shells with an outer layer of iron sulfides zmescience.com/science/sn…
There was a global search to find a mate for Jeremy, a rare left-coiling snail. His shell coiled counterclockwise, the opposite direction of typical snails, so his sex organs could not align with others. After being rejected by other left-coiling snails, he would eventually find love. npr.org/sections/thetwo-w…
The cone snail, one of the most venomous animals on earth, releases a cloud of insulin when a fish swims by, causing it to go into hypoglycemic shock, immobilizing it so it can inject the fish with a cocktail of up to 200 toxins museumsvictoria.com.au/ar…
In the 1960s a boy smuggled in three giant African snails into Florida, and later released them. Within seven years there were an estimated 18,000 of the creatures in the wild, taking 10 years and over $1M to eradicate. thesprucepets.com/giant-a…
The first successful UK lawsuit brought against a manufacturer for a defective product was filed in 1928 by a Scottish woman who found a snail in her ginger beer. Often portrayed as crazy or a liar by the media, she went to several firms for representation because they felt the case unwinnable. narratively.com/the-woman…
There's a deep-sea snail called the scaly-foot snail with an iron sulfide shell and iron sulfide plates on its foot as defenses--so far one of the only animals known to make use of iron sulfide in such a manner. It's even magnetic! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sca…
Snails burrow under the leaves and soil and hibernate. Their heart rate slows to where it hardly beats at all, and the snail's blood contains chemicals that prevent it from freezing, similar to many insects and other invertebrates, and even frogs and other animals. thesnailwrangler.com/educ…
The reason purple was so highly valued in the ancient world for centuries, is because the only known dye was extracted from a very rare type of sea snail. In fact, there was only one place in the world it was harvested; the Phoenician city of Tyre. history.com/news/why-is-p…
Snail species can be either "right-handed" or "left-handed" depending on which way the shell curls. The vast majority are right-handed, similar to how it is with humans. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas…
Octopuses have 2/3 of their neurons in their tentacles; the mother dies almost immediately after the eggs are hatched, due to exhaustion; their blood is copper based which makes it blue; they can change the color of their skin, & also texture; they can watch and learn; evolved from snails. youtu.be/GJor1sk_JDI
Today I learned about Tyrian Purple, a purple dye collected from sea snails. It was worth more than gold due to its labor-intensity, and the process of harvesting it produced a stench so foul that it's likely why the Talmud permits women to divorce a husband who became a dyer after marriage. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyr…
Live snails need their own train ticket, if you take one on a train in France. According to French law, when taking any animal under 6KG (~13lbs) one must pay 7 Euro (~$7.5) for the ride. Law requires you to stay with your snail and keep it and the other passengers safe for the whole ride. us.toluna.com/opinions/40…
Snails, which are hermaphrodites, have sex by first stabbing each other with a tiny spike called a love dart, which determines who is more likely to be the 'male' in the exchange (the better stabber). Scaled to human size, the dart would be a 15-inch knife. kqed.org/science/1446777/…
Many snails and slugs choose their mates by stabbing them in the body with hormone-covered implements called the 'love dart' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lov…
Snails can be left handed, where their shells are coiled counter-clockwise, and they can only mate with other left handed snails due to their genitals also being on the opposite side. wired.co.uk/article/snail…
Pig udders stuffed with salted sea urchins were a coveted appetizer at the banquets of aristocratic ancient Romans, who were also known to fatten snails with milk before frying them. Boiled flamingo with dates was another elite delicacy. thespec.com/life/food-win…
Most species of bee are solitary and don't live in hives or colonies, instead nesting in the ground, aerially, or even in old snail shells wildlifetrusts.org/blog/r…
A 4 year old boy fell and scraped his knee at the beach. Couple of weeks later a black bump started growing on his knee. When squeezed, a live snail emerged from the bump. The boy adopted the snail and named it "Turbo" after his favorite cartoon character. edition.cnn.com/2013/08/1…
Today I learned about the scaly-foot snail. These snails have been found living in volcanic vents in the Indian ocean. Part of their adaptation includes an iron shell. youtube.com/watch?v=_d-us…
Today I learned of the case in 1932, where a woman found the decomposed remains of a snail in her ginger beer, she took the company to court, won the case and is the first case to launch the modern law of negligence news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/busin…
There was a global search to find a mate for Jeremy, a rare left-coiling snail. Because his shell coiled counterclockwise, the opposite direction of typical snails, his sex organs could not align with others. Two candidates were found but they proceeded to mate with each other instead of Jeremy. npr.org/sections/thetwo-w…
There was a chemical called tributyltin that was used as an anti fouling agent in ship paint which caused female sea snails to grow penises and explode popsci.com/article/scienc…
Snails’ teeth are the strongest natural material on Earth, able to withstand pressures high enough to turn carbon into diamond. smithsonianmag.com/smart-…
The cone snail is considered one of the most venomous animals on earth. Their specialized teeth work like a hypodermic needle and harpoon to skewer and can even pierce a wetsuit. The venom is being used to create a painkiller that is 1000 times more powerful than morphine & less addictive. businessinsider.com/most-…
Snails can sleep up to 3 years. They roll into their shells and bury themselves underground; sometimes even unto their own deaths. topnaturalmattresses.com/…
Many Medieval texts contain graphical commentary such as drawings of heroic knights fighting giant snails. Many have lost their cultural context and historians can only speculate as to their original meaning. smithsonianmag.com/smart-…
There is a species of land snail that is named after wildlife expert Steve Irwin. The species is named "Crikey Steveirwini." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cri…
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