Tuesday 23 November 2021

Snails: Powerhouses

Snails are the only mollusks that can live on land. As many as 60,000 to 75,000 species are known in the world. Snails are also called gastropods. This is because the muscles on the abdomen (bottom of the snail) are responsible for the movement. Most snails are hermaphrodite, which means that they have both male and female sexual organs. Some snails are even solitary and can reproduce without needing another snail!




Believe it or not, but a snail has more teeth than a shark! A snail can have more than 25,000 teeth and sharks "only" have 3,000. The snail hides all these small teeth on its tongue (radula)_ and scrapes small pieces off the leaves that it eats. Ever wondered why there are so many holes in the leaves of your plants? A snail can eat up to half its own body weight in one day! It does not matter much what snails eat. They prefer to eat only the soft part of the plant, but when there is a long drought, they can take a bite from your newspaper if they can't find anything else. They are not picky.



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