New snail species are world’s smallest, tinier than grains of sand
The two new land snail species, found in Vietnam and Laos, show how little we know about life at the smallest scales.
Scientists have discovered two new snail species the size of a grain of sand—the tiniest known land snails on Earth.
“It's amazing how small they are—we wouldn’t have expected that,” says Adrienne Jochum, a researcher with Natural History Museum Bern in Switzerland.
The new record-holder’s diminutive nature is reflected in its scientific name, Angustopila psammion; “Psammion” derives from the ancient Greek word for “grain of sand.” Scientists found large numbers of the species on the wall of a cave in northern Vietnam, according to a study published in January in Contributions to Zoology. This species’ shell measures 0.6 millimeters in diameter.
The other, A. coprologos, was discovered in a limestone gorge in northern Laos. This species is ever so
