There was a story last month about a snail someone found in England with a backwards shell. The spiral is on the left side instead of the right, and goes counter-clockwise. Apparently it’s extremely rare.
Anyway, they named him Jeremy, and he can’t mate with normal snails, because his JUNK doesn’t line up . . . it’s on the wrong side of his body.
But researchers in the U.K. recently started a global search for OTHER snails with backward shells. And they just found TWO potential mates.
Someone found one in southeast England, and the other was found on an island off the coast of Spain.
And even if you’re not a hopeless romantic, here’s why it’s cool. There’s actually a scientific REASON they went through all that trouble.
The researchers think lefty snails might have the same genetic condition that causes dextrocardia. That’s where your heart faces the wrong way in your chest.
And if they can get two lefty snails to mate and have babies, they might be able to zero in on the specific gene that causes it.
(BBC / Daily Mail)
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