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Beauty can be found in unexpected places, as demonstrated by a recent study of a diminutive 3-mm snail that has been likened to art.
A dedicated team of malacologists, spearheaded by Serbian PhD candidate Vukašin Gojšina and his Hungarian advisor Barna Páll-Gergely, embarked on a journey to investigate snail diversity across Southeast Asia. During their exploration, they encountered a previously unclassified species that inspired them to name it in homage to the renowned cubist artist, Pablo Picasso.
The newly identified species, Anauchen picasso, stands out from typical snails due to its uniquely shaped whorls, which possess angular, rectangular features. The researchers noted that this peculiar morphology gives it an appearance reminiscent of cubism, setting it apart from more conventionally shaped snails.
The findings were detailed in a substantial 300-page publication, which introduced 46 new microsnail species from countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.
“Despite their tiny size, measuring less than 5 mm, these snails are remarkable in their beauty,” the team expressed. “Their shells display an intricate complexity. For instance, the shell’s aperture features numerous tooth-like structures, likely serving as defenses against predators. Moreover, some species possess apertures that tilt either upwards or downwards, resulting in certain snails carrying their shells in unusual orientations.”
These unique features of the apertural barriers and the orientation of the shell’s final whorl were crucial in distinguishing among the various species.
While many of the newly cataloged species were collected during recent fieldwork, some were surprisingly discovered in the archives of the Florida Museum of Natural History, dating back to the 1980s. Tragically, the environments where these snails were located may already be irreparably altered due to deforestation and limestone quarrying, which pose significant threats to endemic land snails in Southeast Asia.
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