« BACK Snail Survey 2009

Here at Show Me we love snails and we want you to find out as much about them as you can. Learning about snails is a great way to find out about evolution.

	Evolution is the way animals have changed and adapted over millions of years depending on what there was to eat and what the weather was like etc. Picture of a Cepea Nemoralis snail, courtesy of Mike Dodd

Did you know that snails evolved shells as camouflage to protect themselves from thrushes and other predators? Darker shelled snails are found in woodland because it's harder to spot them. Lighter shells with more stripes are found in grass. Why do you think this is? Cepea Snails, courtesy of Mike Dodd

Now there are not as many thrushes in Britain as there used to be. So scientists want to see if snails are evolving because they don't have so many predators around. For example, are darker-shelled snails sticking to their habitat of the woods or moving out to grassy areas?

Have you ever found an interesting snail shell in your garden? Did you notice if it was dark or light and stripy? Become a scientist and join the snail hunt to help the experts at MegaLab . You will search and record the types of shells you find in your own back garden. This will tell the scientists at MegaLab about the way snails are evolving. You can also have some garden fun online with Kew's Climbers and Creepers game.

By the way, have you got any slimy snail pictures you can send in? We'd love to see them!

Mark Slawinski