The world has a new smallest-snail-ever, a 0.7-millimeter micro mollusk discovered in Borneo researchers named Acmella nana.
According to Live Science, Acmella is 0.3 millimeters smaller than the previous record holder, a Chinese snail named Angustopila dominikae. The researchers published a study on the newly discovered micro mollusk in the journal ZooKeys.
But the newly named second-smallest-snail only got to hold its title for a short while, as researchers detailed Angustopila in a study published earlier this year. Both snails prove why it is important to learn more about them and work to help conserve their species.
For example, a species called Diplommatina tylocheilos was discovered in the remote Loloposon Cave at Mount Trusmadi, its only known residence.
"A blazing forest fire at Loloposon Cave could wipe out the entire population of Diplommatina tylocheilos," study co-author Menno Schilthuizen, of Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Universiti Malaysia Sabah, said in a press release.
Despite how remote and inaccessible such locations are, the researchers have determined a way to learn where these snails live before setting out.
"When we go to a limestone hill, we just bring some strong plastic bags, and we collect a lot of soil and litter and dirt from underneath the limestone cliffs," Schilthuizen told Live Science. "We stir it around a lot so that the sand and clay sinks to the bottom, but the shells- which contain a bubble of air - float.
"You can sometimes get thousands or tens of thousands of shells from a few liters of soil, including these very tiny ones."
