Scientists find two tiny new snails with shells that close like doors

Two newly identified snail species have expanded the known diversity of European land snails. The species, Cochlostoma komarnica and Cochlostoma dobrido , are described in a new study published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal .

Neither species has an English common name yet. Both are small, with cone-shaped shells measuring about 6 mm in length, and they live on limestone rocks where they feed on algae and lichens.

They also have several unusual features. Unlike most land snails, their eyes are positioned along the sides of the head rather than at the tips of eye stalks. They also carry a circular disk attached to the tail that can seal the shell opening like a door when the animal retreats inside.

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