We may not have an answer to how many angels can polka on a pin, but now we know how many snails can fit in the eye of a needle. The answer is 10.
In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys today, researchers describe the discovery of ‘microsnails’ in China.
The scientists found tiny grey shells (devoid of occupants) in the soil, and identified seven new species of land snail.
The smallest, Angustopila dominikae was identified from a single specimen that was only 0.86 mm long. Another small species described in the paper, Angustopila subelevata, averaged 0.87 mm long.
All of the identifications of these animals (and their potential record-breaking size) is inferred from their shells. The researchers have yet to find any living specimens.
