Snail meat is pretty nutritious it’s rich in protein, iron, potassium, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids, according to the paper. And the prehistoric snail shell fragments are thought to be from relatives of modern behemoths that can grow to the size of a human hand and weigh more than two pounds. In other words, they could have provided a lot of meat. People today eat snails all over the world, including in the Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, northeastern India, Nepal and South America
You need look no farther than the animal realm for unmistakable evidence that gender is genuinely flexible. There, certain creatures adapt the behavior of the opposing sex or change their reproductive identity in response to seasonal needs. Even the genitalia of certain animals can function.
Which mammal has reproductive organs for both sexes?
Snails are typically hermaphrodites. The main exceptions are specific freshwater and marine species like periwinkle and apple snails. Snails are hermaphrodites and early bloomers; by the time they are a year old, they are sexually mature. The largest species of snail on earth is the enormous African land snail, Achatina fulica have both male and female organs. Each one can either lay eggs or fertilise eggs. They can even fertilise each other's eggs at the same time. They lay 100 -500 eggs underground or hidden in vegetation.
Snails, spring is the mating season and when two individuals of the same species meet, they begin by embracing: these are the preludes. Next to the head, snails have a muscular pocket containing a stinger. During the preludes, this pocket opens and ejects the stinger which will go to plant itself between the head and the shell of the partner. The fact of being stung by this stinger will stimulate the snails which will be able to copulate then.
Their white penis comes out from under the right tentacle. The two partners exchange their spermatozoa in small bags, called spermatophores. The mating can last from 10 to 15 hours. Both snails then produce eggs that are fertilized by the sperm of the partner.
Snails are among those animal groups everybody knows. After rain snails can be seen crawling around on bushes, trees, walls and roads at a proverbially slow pace.
The Roman snail (Helix pomatia) is a common and well known snail species. This largest native snail (10 cm body length and 4 cm shell diameter) can be found especially in bushes besides roads or on the wood front, where it crawl around mostly in the cool evening hours. If we take a closer look we also find snails on tree trunks in the forest, under decaying wood, on walls and rocks faces. Snails can also be found in settlements and gardens.
Earliest land snail fossils were found from the period of 350 million to 260 million years ago. The largest species discovered, Dendropupa vestusta, was cylindrical and about 8mm in size and had 9 whorls.