Feels Like That Should Hurt: Scientists Capture Rare Snail Laying Egg Through Neck Hole

The miracle of life can be majestic at times. Other times, it’s an incredibly rare snail in New Zealand having kids out of its neck hole. In a first, officials at New Zealand’s Department of Conservation have documented a Powelliphanta augusta snail laying its eggs. The carnivorous land snails are known for their unique method of mating and reproduction, which involves a “genital pore” just below their head. This latest egg-laying feat is all the more important given that the slimy animals were almost completely wiped out of existence. P. augusta is also called the Mount Augustus snail, named after the only known habitat on New Zealand’s South Island where they were once natively found. About 20 years ago, a coal mining operation in the area began to decimate its environment, and conservationists scrambled to save as many snails as they could to be raised in captivity. DOC officials based in the nearby town of Hokitika have been raising their own captive population of Mount Augustus ... Read full article.