Dense groups of marine snails called Littorina saxatilis once thrived on a group of Swedish islands called the Koster archipelago. But in 1988, a massive bloom of toxic algae hit the islands, and ...

Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work covers anything from archaeology and the environment to technology and culture. Tom has a Master's degree in Journalism. His editorial work ...

A 30-year-long study of a small population of marine snail shows how evolution can adapt to environmental changes quite rapidly. This study revealed how a specific ecotype of the snail changed its ...

Science has not exactly been kind to the rough periwinkle. For one, taxonomists keep forgetting the species, known to malacologists as Littorina saxatilis, exists. It’s been “discovered” so many times ...

Snails whose shells coil counterclockwise have trouble hooking up with snails whose shells twist clockwise since their bodies don't line up properly. Turns out, the contrary snails trade awkward sex ...

At one point there were only some 700 snail kites left in the world.But in the last decade or so, these dusky, red-eyed little raptors, found only in Florida, have made a comeback. Their rebound may ...

University of Iowa biologists discovered that a New Zealand freshwater snail duplicated its entire genome, capturing a rare evolutionary transitory state. The finding shows how large-scale genetic ...

Snails (Gastropoda) are a stroke of luck for paleontologists: because of their hard shells, these animals are very often preserved as fossils. Snails therefore form an important and well represented ...