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| Picture courtesy of Science News |
Scientists
are in awe over the recent discovery of a new translucent snail species that
resides in the underground caves of Croatia. The snail, officially named Zospeum tholussum, is a terrestrial
snail that occupies wet subterranean areas. The snail is completely translucent
with an average shell height of 1.55 millimeters, which is comparable to the
thickness of a penny. The unearthing of this extraordinary species is due to
the work of Alexand Weigand of Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
Wiegand
found the snail while exploring the Lukina jama-Trojama cave system which has an
average air temperature of 3.3°C, a water temperature
of 5.1 °C, and a humidity level of 100%. Wiegand captured the only living
specimen at 800 meters for further research. Wiegand
continued down the cave system and discovered vast quantities of empty shells
800 to 1400 meters down. The inter-workings of the Lukina jama-Trojama cave system and the snail's location are depicted in Figure 1. While Wiegand travelled throughout the cave system he noticed that all the empty shells had a milky white
appearance, which could be attributed to aging after the snail deceased.
Scientists
believe that the new snail species is similar to the common terrestrial snail because of shared characteristics. For example, the Zospeum tholussum demonstrates a sedate lifestyle with limited mobility. The living specimen and array of shells were found in mud by running
water, which suggests that they relied on the cave water systems for
transportation. The snail and its biological role in the cave system are still
under investigation. Further research needs to be conducted to determine their
range within the cave system and explain the great quantity of shells Weigand
found.
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| Figure 1. The Lukina jama-Trojama cave system and snail depths. |
Picture courtesy of Science News
Bohac, Allison. "Clearly New Snail." Science News: Magazine of the Society for Science and the Public. Science News, 2 Nov. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/clearly-new-snail
It is really insane what lies in the depths of the caverns that are below us. Theses snails are some of the vast amounts of undiscovered species of animals that are just waiting to be found. One can only imagine what else lies below us, there are probably new classifications of animals that can survive deep below the earth. With technological advancement i can only fathom what else scientist will discover in our lifetime.
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