Did you you know Snail Facts

The Unexpected World of Snails (Saved responses are view only) Okay, here's a detailed briefing document summarizing the key themes and facts from the provided source, "Snail Facts You Probably Didn't Expect": Briefing Document: Snail Facts Introduction: This document summarizes key information about snails, drawing from the source provided. It covers diverse aspects of snail biology, behavior, ecology, and their interaction with humans. The main point of the video seems to be to reveal that snails are far more complex and interesting than many might assume. Key Themes & Facts: Classification & Diversity: Not Insects: Snails are not insects but gastropods, belonging to the class Gastropoda within the phylum Mollusca (or mollusks). "Snails are not insects they crawl underground much like insects do but they are actually gastropods." Dominant Gastropods: Gastropods make up over 80% of mollusks, highlighting their abundance within the phylum. "Gastropods make over 80 percent of mosques." Slugs vs. Snails: While both are gastropods, they are not the same. The primary distinction is the presence of a shell on a snail versus its absence on a slug. "Contrary to popular belief slugs and snails are not the same because slugs and snails belong to the same class gastropoda they have many similarities however they are not the same one key difference in telling the two apart is the presence of a shell a snail has a shell while a slug doesn't." This also leads to differences in speed, with slugs being faster. Habitat Diversity: Snails live in a variety of habitats including land, sea, and underground. Most snail species are sea snails, and those sea snails vary significantly. "There are land snails and sea snails a majority of snail species are sea snails these sea snails also differ from each other some have conical or spiral shells some have gills while some have lungs." Evolutionary History & Size: Ancient Lineage: A fully preserved snail fossil dates back 99 million years, demonstrating the snail's long history. "a fully preserved snail dates back to 99 million years ago the most complete snail fossil was recovered from myanmar in 2018 it still had its shell head eyestock and foot most fossils only survive with a shell so this fossil was a special and historic find" Extreme Sizes: The smallest snail, Angustopiel dominicae, can fit through the eye of a needle. "the small snail in the world can be found in china the angustopiel dominicae can fit through the eye of a needle." The largest, the Giant Welk, reaches 70 cm. "the world's largest nail on the other hand is the giant welk the australian great wealth is 70 centimeters in size" Snail Anatomy & Physiology: Shell Development: Baby snails are born with a soft, transparent protoconch (the earliest shell) that hardens with calcium intake. "baby snails are born with a protoconch a protoconch or the earliest shell is a soft and transparent shell that baby snails are born with as they grow older and consume food with calcium in it the shell becomes harder." Irreplaceable Shell: The shell is crucial for protection; snails cannot replace a broken shell. "snail shells cannot be replaced a snail's shell acts as its home it protects the snail's organs from harm minor cracks in its shell aren't fatal and a snail can usually recover from this it cannot however recover from a completely broken shell." Unique Vision: Land snails have eyes at the tips of tentacles, while sea snails have eyes at the base. Some underground snails lack eyes completely. "you'll notice land snails have eyes on the tips of their tentacles sea snails on the other hand have eyes at the base of their tentacles this limits their field of vision there are snail species that do not have eyes at all underground snails will use their tentacles and other senses in order to move around." Radula: Instead of jaws and teeth, snails have a radula, a "elongated sack with teeth," used for eating and digestion. "a snail doesn't have jaws their mouth does not hinge with a jaw nor do they have teeth or fangs lined up like most animals do instead snails have a ragela a regula is an elongated sack with teeth and it is what snails use to eat and digest their food" Remarkable Teeth: Snails possess the most teeth of any animal, with some species having up to 20,000. Marine snail teeth also contain the strongest natural material. "despite not having jaws snails have the most teeth out of any animal it depends on the snail species but a snail's ragela is lined with up to 20 000 teeth furthermore snail teeth are incredibly strong the strongest natural material in the world is found in the marine snail's teeth it was five times stronger than spider silk"