News in Brief Animals

World’s smallest snail record broken again

LATEST IN LITTLEST A drawing shows the form of a newly named snail species, Borneo’s Acmella nana. These snails are so tiny, their shells fit between the letters of the journal article that describes them.

Menno Schilthuizen/NATURALIS BIODIVERSITY CENTER

By Susan Milius

Tiny, meet tiniest. The record for the world’s smallest known snail has been broken just over a month after its announcement. The latest champ: a new species a full 0.3 millimeters smaller.

The new winner is a mere pinhead of a gastropod named Acmella nana. Found in Borneo, the snail grows a shell 0.5 to 0.6 millimeters in diameter, researchers report November 2 in ZooKeys.

Its white shell has “some nice spiral lines,” but otherwise it’s not the most spectacular looking of Malaysian snails, says codescriber Menno Schilthuizen of Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Leiden University in the Netherlands.

The previous record holder for smallest snail was Angustopila dominikae from China, described September 28. 

A version of this article appears in the December 12, 2015 issue of Science News.

About Susan Milius

Susan Milius is the life sciences writer, covering organismal biology and evolution, and has a special passion for plants, fungi and invertebrates. She studied biology and English literature.

More Stories from Science News on Animals

  1. Animals

    This caterpillar wears the body parts of insect prey

    By McKenzie Prillaman
  2. Animals

    How science can help you train your puppy

    By Joshua Rapp Learn
  3. Paleontology

    Could Spinosaurus swim? The fierce dinosaur ignites debate

    By Carolyn Gramling
  4. Animals

    Bats wearing tiny mics reveal how the fliers avoid rush hour collisions

    By Susan Milius
  5. Animals

    Snakes are often the villains. A new book gives them a fair shake

    By Victoria Jaggard
  6. Animals

    The story of dire wolves goes beyond de-extinction

    By Meghan Rosen
  7. Anthropology

    Rare books covered with seal skin hint at a medieval trade network

    By Alex Viveros
  8. Life

    Gila monsters may struggle to survive climate change

    By Jake Buehler
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue without supporting us

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS
  3. Disable any privacy or tracking protection extensions such as Firefox Enhanced Tracking Protection or DuckDuckGo Privacy.

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers, tracking protection or privacy extensions).

Use up and down arrow keys to explore.Use right arrow key to move into the list.Use left arrow key to move back to the parent list.Use tab key to enter the current list item.Use escape to exit the menu.Use the Shift key with the Tab key to tab back to the search input.