This is a metal snail (Volcano Snail) that lives on underwater volcano vents in the Indian Ocean. Its shell and scaly feet both are armoured with layers of iron, making it the only animal to incorporate iron sulfide into its skeleton.
“In 2019, scientists worked out that the scales on the snails’ foot are not to protect against predatory attack but to avert a toxic threat that comes from within. The bacteria stashed in a scaly-foot snail’s throat release sulphur as a waste product, which is deadly to snails (it’s a common active ingredient in slug and snail-killing pellets).
The internal structure of their scales acts as tiny exhaust pipes, drawing the dangerous sulphur away from the snails’ soft tissues and depositing it as a harmless iron-based compound on the outside.”
Tags:
#snails #biology #the more you know #poison cw? #body horror? #this post was queued because my to-reblog list is too long and I didn’t want to dump it on you all at once
#that being said I *am* enjoying the National Puppy Day celebrations #bugs #snails #slugs #adorable #(I’m reminded of that thread a while back about artificial neural networks thinking everything is a dog) #(”oh yeah it’s *artificial neural networks* that do that”) #(”*they’re* the ones who call lots of things ‘dogs’ that clearly aren’t dogs”) #(”no other sorts of minds would *ever* do that constantly”)
photos by alberto ghizzi panizzafrom of two snails on italy’s po river mesmerized by a raindrop, the seeming vortex it created, and its almost instant disappearance. (similar posts)
Brinens and Things 