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Snail

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Snail

The Snail is an animal, that's the most slowest animal in the world.

Summary[edit | edit source]

Snails that breathe using their lungs belong to the Pulmonata group, which is traditionally formulated. Based on the findings of a molecular study conducted by Jorger et al. In 2010, it was determined that it was a polyphyletic group. In other words, snails with lungs and snails with gills form a series of taxonomic groups that are not necessarily closely related to each other, but are related to some other groups. Snails that have lungs and those that have gills have branched out so much over a geological period of time that several species with gills can be found on land, and numerous species with lungs can be found in freshwater. Even a few marine species have lungs.

Snails can be found in a very wide range of environments, including ditches, deserts and great depths of the sea. Although terrestrial snails are better known to laymen, marine snails make up most species of snails and have much greater diversity and greater biomass. Numerous species of snails can also be found in fresh water.

Most snails have thousands of microscopic tooth-like structures found on a banded tongue called radula . Radula functions like a file, tearing food into small pieces. Many snails are herbivores , eating plants or rough algae from the surface with their radulas. Several terrestrial species and many marine species are omnivores or predatory carnivores. Snails cannot absorb colored pigments when they eat paper or cardboard, so their feces are also colored.

Several species of the genus Achatina and related genera are known as giant African terrestrial snails; some grow up to 15 in (38 cm) from the muzzle to the end of the tail, and weigh 1 kg (2 lb). The largest extant sea snail species is Syrinx aruanus ; its shell can be up to 90 cm (35 in) long, and whole shell animals can weigh up to 18 kg (40 lb).

The Lymnae snail makes decisions using only two types of neurons: one decides if the snail is hungry and the other if there is food nearby.

The largest known terrestrial gastropod is the African giant snail Achatina achatina , whose largest recorded specimen measured 393 cm (155 in) from the snout to the end of the tail, completely elongated, with a shell length of 273 cm (107 in) according to data from December 1978. He weighed exactly 900 g (2 lb). This snail, called G Geronimo, was owned by Christopher Hudson (1955-79) from Howe, East Sussex, UK, and was found in Sierra Leone in June of 1976.

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