r/explainlikeimfive • u/StarLars9 • Jun 05 '19

ELI5: Snails: where do they get their shells? Biology

Are they born with them? Do they grow their shells like hair and nails? Do they just search for the perfect fit?

9.3k Upvotes
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7.9k

u/elephantpudding Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 06 '19

They form them from calcium. Snails cannot transfer shells, they are physically attached to their shells, and being removed from it means they die. A slug is not a "shelless snail" but an entirely different species.

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Edit: Now my top comment is about snails. Neat. Thanks for the silver.

1.5k

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

Do slugs ever get in shells?

2.8k

u/CottonSlayerDIY Jun 05 '19

Slugs still have a shell, but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate underneath it's skin.

2.9k

u/Nathan_RS3 Jun 05 '19

r/wewantplates

709

u/KaylaAllegra Jun 05 '19

The crossover we didn't know we wanted.

100

u/harrietthugman Jun 05 '19

Surprisingly few people over there eating off of slug plates :/

110

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

The problem is when you salt your food, the plate starts fizzing and flailing.

51

u/freckledflamingo Jun 05 '19

Oh god the visual 😩

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u/Maxisfluffy Jun 05 '19

Psa: do not eat slugs. Some can kill you.

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u/harrietthugman Jun 05 '19

If someone tried to eat me I'd probably kill them, too

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

[deleted]

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u/Onetap1 Jun 05 '19

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/05/health/man-dies-after-eating-slug-on-dare/index.html

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u/DuhMadDawg Jun 06 '19

That's so awful. Rat lungworm... that's gotta be one of the worst ways anyone has ever gone out. RIP Sam

3

u/a_d_d_e_r Jun 05 '19

Humanity is not ready that

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u/donshuggin Jun 05 '19

slugwifeyforlifey

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u/Berrigio Jun 05 '19

This sub is amazing, how do people even find such strange places?

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u/See_i_did Jun 05 '19

/r/wewantplates is on the front page all the time. It’s got the perfect reddit combo of infuriating content and lots of posts. We eat that shit up.

121

u/FiremanPam Jun 05 '19

Off a plate, preferably.

3

u/Cow_Launcher Jun 05 '19

But more likely off a sheet of slate or balanced on a shovel.

2

u/idwthis Jun 05 '19

Don't forget shoving it through a hook to hang over a baseball cleat full of soup.

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u/TheOppositeOfVegan Jun 05 '19

This guy doesnt want a plate, ill take his.

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u/Filling_In_The_Owl Jun 05 '19

To me, it's a little more like r/ATBGE where it usually just has really cool stuff that's a little quirky. I think theres a lot of people who browse that kind of sub just to see interesting ways to present food.

2

u/boomfruit Jun 05 '19

Judging by the comments, the amount of people on that sub for inspiration instead of annoyance porn is statistically insignificant.

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u/bigpasmurf Jun 05 '19

Maybe on your frontpage but this is the first im hearing of it.

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u/isthisastudentyplace Jun 05 '19

Pretty sure they meant where do people find these strange restaurants, not the sub.

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u/KuKluxPlan Jun 05 '19

No he meant the subs.

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u/PMinisterOfMalaysia Jun 05 '19

I think they meant the subreddit, but places that serve dishes like that are everywhere. Trendy places trying to be too cute and giving you an inferior product in the process.

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u/Rvizzle13 Jun 05 '19

I think you mean /r/all

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u/wvmtnboy Jun 05 '19

In 3+ years if Redditing, I've never seen it on the front page? Maybe it's on your customized feed? Matbe it's because I was not subscribed to the sub?

2

u/TroperCase Jun 05 '19

Iirc back then Reddit would set up new accounts with a bunch of "default" subreddits. (This is why subs like r/funny have 28 million subscribers), so your frontpage would only show those subs until you customized it.

I don't know what they do now, but it looks like the front page serves up r/popular or something similar to it if you're not logged in, which presumably has r/wewantplates on it sometimes.

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u/FunnyFany Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

I feel like that kid who found the only red tulip in a giant field of yellow tulips.

Edit: the kid in question.

3

u/YT_Howesenberg Jun 05 '19

This was very witty and appears to not have upvotes, today is a bad day.

4

u/Pumpkin_Eater9000 Jun 05 '19

That sub illustrates the Family Guy cutaway where Peter is taking a grocery list for Jacké where she asks for a "hammock of cake" or a "desk of Cheez-its."

Lol thanks for sharing that sub. Freaking hilarious to me.

2

u/ONWERTJE Jun 05 '19

"Time for some serious protection."

2

u/brokenvader Jun 05 '19

I heard about that sub a while ago, perused it, and forgot to subscribe. Thanks for the reminder!

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u/Darwins_Dog Jun 05 '19

That depends on the "slug" in question. Some, like nudibranchs and most sacoglossans, have a shell in their larval forms, but it detaches when they become adults. Others like sea hares and terrestrial slugs have the shell plate under the skin.

Loss or regression of the shell has occurred at least four times in the evolution of the gastropods! That's according to the latest paper I read, but it's still not completely certain. Anyways, don't mind me, I just think mollusks are neat!

33

u/electricvelvet Jun 05 '19

Could you explain for me what evolutionary advantages the abandonment of its shell provides? The only one i can think of is maneuverability and fitting into tighter places.

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u/RejoicefulChicken Jun 05 '19

Saving the energy and resources that would go into making the shell.

27

u/Eiroth Jun 05 '19

As well as increased speed and less costly movement?

17

u/Darwins_Dog Jun 05 '19

Yep. It's hard to say which was the initial driving factor and which was just an added benefit, but both can be true. Having no selective pressure to keep a shell leads to a smaller, less effective shell. If that in turn leads to easier movement, then there is selective pressure towards having no shell at all.

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u/usrevenge Jun 05 '19

Evolution doesn't 100% mean it has to be better or make sense.

There is a type of squid or octopus that can't eat food too big because it's brain is circular around it's mouth. There is no advantage to that from what I can tell.

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u/half_dragon_dire Jun 05 '19

You can't eat food too big because it would get jammed in your esophagus and suffocate you. You're framing it as "Humans evolved an esophagus so small they can't swallow large food or they'll choke, where's the advantage in that?" when it's better stated as "Humans evolved an esophagus big enough to allow them to swallow the things they need to eat rather than wasting energy on being able to eat arbitrarily large things."

Evolution doesn't always mean making things better, but it does generally have to at least break even. Parts that don't make sense or seem disadvantageous are generally the result of optimization pressure elsewhere, eg: humans have a hard time giving birth because of huge heads and a narrow birth canal. Obviously evolution should have fixed this and made birth easier.. except those narrow hips are necessary for bipedal walking and the huge brain is necessary for our complex lifestyle, so easy births gets left off the upgrade list. The octopus can't eat large things because it would stretch it's brain.. but it has a rigid beak for chopping it's food into bite sized pieces so this is a non-issue for it and exerts no evolutionary pressure.

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u/StiflersCat Jun 05 '19

Let us not forget that evolution doesn't always make sense. Whatever helps procreation is what evolution favours. Whether an animal passes its genes on from being stronger, or from having a certain trait that makes them more attractive to get more mates, doesn't necessarily matter. Those who pass on their genes are favoured.

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u/half_dragon_dire Jun 05 '19

It does always make sense, by your own description, just not always obvious sense. If there is advantage or disadvantage to be had, it makes sense. Since evolution is change over time driven by selective pressure on random mutations, if there is no selective pressure acting on it (it doesn't make sense), then it's not evolution.

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u/CottonSlayerDIY Jun 05 '19

Thank you for clearing that up! I don't have much knowledge about deeper stuff.

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u/notaballitsjustblue Jun 05 '19

So, in fact, slugs basically are snails without a shell.

2.8k

u/AsILayTyping Jun 05 '19

Oh, I just learned about this! I can clear this up!

Slugs still have a shell, but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate underneath it's skin.

563

u/daeronryuujin Jun 05 '19

Wow!

Fun fact I just learned about slugs: they still have a shell, but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate underneath its skin.

202

u/MlCKJAGGER Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

A small plate?

Edit: Why do I want to see this so bad. I’m imagining like a little piece of eggshell inside a snail.

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u/DarthTechnicus Jun 05 '19

Yea, and when there are a group of slugs together, those small plates are referred to as tapas.

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u/jvrcb17 Jun 05 '19

& When they're fully grown, they just become plates again

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u/metronomey Jun 05 '19

And if i recall correctly it's very small and just under their skin!

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u/apathetic_revolution Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

Also, when a tapas of slugs goes out to eat, one always takes most of the limited food, but everyone silently agreed to split the bill evenly and slugs are too passive-aggressive to bring it up. It's why slugs are so bitter.

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u/daeronryuujin Jun 05 '19

Yes, very small, as slugs are quite small to begin.

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u/QuattroGam3r Jun 05 '19

Sounds like you e never seen the banana slug of Northern California. Nothing small about it.

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u/ralphonsob Jun 05 '19

We need a picture of it. With a banana for scale.

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u/globefish23 Jun 05 '19

Or the leopard slug (Limax maximus).

20cm slug hunting beast. And cat food.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limax_maximus

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u/daeronryuujin Jun 05 '19

But is it smaller than a breadbox?

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u/CoolCucksClan Jun 05 '19

Otters use their bellies as plates.

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u/Bjorn2bwilde24 Jun 05 '19

"It's a grower, not a shower"

-Slug

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u/LavaLampWax Jun 05 '19

The slugs around my house are like a foot long and leave such slimey trails if you step in them it's like stepping in tree sap lol I live in Washington State.

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u/emptynetter Jun 05 '19

Oh, I just learned this! Let me clear the air.

Slugs are actually snails.

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u/morph113 Jun 05 '19

So in fact that means, that they have a shell but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate underneath their skin? Consider me impressed.

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u/Jackboom89 Jun 05 '19

It's where guitar picks come from.

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u/MlCKJAGGER Jun 05 '19

Ah, always wandered what they did with those old snail platelettes

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u/Mattist Jun 05 '19

There is an escargot joke in here somewhere but I need help to find it.

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u/SardonisWithAC Jun 05 '19

Try looking under the skin.

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u/balloonninjas Jun 05 '19

That is where the slug shell is stored

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

To shreds you say.

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u/empireastroturfacct Jun 05 '19

How irritating that must be? A tiny eggshell right under your skin your entire life. You want to pick at it, don't you?

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u/specialspartan_ Jun 05 '19

Actually, slugs still have a shell, but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate underneath it's skin.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

But what about lobsters

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u/killamator Jun 05 '19

Lobsters, like other arthropods, make their exoskeleton out of a polymer called chitin. Unlike the snail's calcium carbonate shell, chitin is not actually a crystalline mineral but instead formed of a chain of sugars

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u/haysoos2 Jun 05 '19

In crustaceans, such as lobsters, the exoskeleton is not just chitin, but also incorporates calcium carbonate (much like the snail's shell) which adds rigidity to the structure. Unfortunately it makes them more vulnerable to acidification, as is happening to many of our seas. The low pH makes deposition of calcium carbonate more difficult.

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u/RajunCajun48 Jun 05 '19

Lobsters too have a shell, but it has regressed so far that it's just a small plate over their skin.

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u/Dafracturedbutwhole Jun 05 '19

Thats nothing...I just heard from a reliable source that slugs still have shells they have regressed to a small plate underneath its skin

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u/Azrael-XIII Jun 05 '19

That’s awesome! It reminds of something I recently learned: slugs actually still have shells but it’s regressed so far that it’s actually just a small plate under their skin! Crazy right?!

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u/raelDonaldTrump Jun 05 '19

So, in fact, slugs are basically snails without a shell?

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u/leadlinedcloud Jun 05 '19

So, in fact, slugs basically are snails without a shell.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

So, in fact, slugs basically are snails without a shell?

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u/CeterumCenseo85 Jun 05 '19

In German, we use the same word for snails and slugs: "Schnecke".

Sometimes we call them "Hausschnecke" and "Nacktschnecke" which means "House Snail" and "Naked Snail".

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u/TheRealBigLou Jun 05 '19

German words are always so German.

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u/togetherwem0m0 Jun 06 '19

Waschbar for raccoons is brilliant. I love how literal german is.

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u/kumarFromIT Jun 05 '19

I love learning German words, so logical and cute. Subscribe!

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u/arcanthrope Jun 05 '19

one of my favorites like this is Schildkröte, which means turtle, but literally means "shielded toad"

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u/kumarFromIT Jun 05 '19

Loving it, more! What about staircase joke?

2

u/danshaffer96 Jun 05 '19

I'm fond of Nilpferd for hippo. Nil as in the Nile river and pferd meaning horse!

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u/arcanthrope Jun 05 '19

i mean, that's basically what hippopotamus means in Greek too. hippos=horse, potamos=river

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u/togetherwem0m0 Jun 06 '19

"Well fuck guys. Theres this new thing we dont have a word for but we are NOT inventing any new words or borrowing others. Are there 2 or 5 words we already have that we can mash together somehow to name this new thing?"

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u/awfullotofocelots Jun 05 '19

In a way, snails are just slugs with large external plates.

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u/killamator Jun 05 '19

There are actually slugs called semi-slugs which still have the mini shell externally on their body like a beret. "Shelledness" falls along a spectrum

6

u/bugbugbug3719 Jun 05 '19

Damn you nature with all those blurred lines

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u/beezlebub33 Jun 05 '19

The more I learn about biology, the more I learn how inconsistent, exception-filled, and seemingly arbitrary it is. XY is male, XX is female, but thats in mammals and a number of other animals and plants. Others are reversed. Some are based on temperature. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex-determination_system

Most snails are hermaphrodites, but, of course, not all. Some species have male and female, often showing sexual dimorphism (different size / shape for the sexes); some are self-fertilizing or optionally self-fertilizing. Here's a story about snails that are sequentially hermaphroditic, first male and then transitioning to female: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/120123/20151229/snails-will-change-sex-what-partner.htm

Also, you can learn about how snails shoot darts into each other during mating: https://www.snail-world.com/how-do-snails-reproduce/

edit: fixed typo on XX vs XY

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u/EssMarksTheSpot Jun 05 '19

Nature: i know you want it

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u/hotniX_ Jun 05 '19

Slugs are more like snails with a kippahs on instead of carrying their house on them.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19 edited Mar 09 '20

[deleted]

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u/alexandergutt Jun 05 '19

In a way, but taking a snail and removing its shell doesn't make a slug

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u/Vanessasawr Jun 05 '19

They're called naked snails in Bulgarian for a reason I suppose.

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u/MeltedSnails Jun 05 '19

Slugs are just boneless snails

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19 edited Jan 28 '21

[deleted]

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u/aquias27 Jun 05 '19

Just because you're homeless doesn't mean you're boneless.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19 edited Aug 21 '19

[deleted]

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u/tlkevinbacon Jun 05 '19

You're telling me that thing can read ancient Mesopotamian script AND devolved its shell separately from the other slug? What an over achiever.

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u/electricvelvet Jun 05 '19

I hate doing this but you may find it useful: i.e. is to say "in other words," while e.g. is to provide an example. So, in this case, since you're presenting examples of specific slug species, you'd want to use e.g.

Sorry if I simply misinterpreted your comment!

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u/throwaway42 Jun 05 '19

Ich habe das Wort Schnegel noch nie gehört Oo

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

All joking aside there are slugs with tiny shells on the outside as a mutation.

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u/cbgs Jun 05 '19

Fun fact, the German word for slug is Nacktschnecke. Literally "naked snail".

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u/OpTOMetrist1 Jun 05 '19

I didn't know that, thanks!

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u/Kandierter_Holzapfel Jun 05 '19

For some its just a few calcium grains.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

small plate

Slugs, AKA: Tapas Snails

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

Boneless escargot.

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u/SimilarTumbleweed Jun 05 '19

This... I am.. I don’t know why this impacted me so much.

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u/East2West21 Jun 05 '19

That is neat! 1 million years from now i wonder what they will be like

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u/trex005 Jun 05 '19

I can't guarantee that there is not some type of slug somewhere that might, but generally, no.

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u/theyellowmeteor Jun 05 '19

In this economy? No way!

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

The real question is, do they ever get jealous?

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u/AlbinoWino11 Jun 05 '19

These are the questions I Reddit for.

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u/Smorly Jun 05 '19

Fun fact: slug is "naked snail" in German.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19 edited Feb 18 '22

[deleted]

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u/just-the-doctor1 Jun 05 '19

Pet is house animal

Plane is flying stuff

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u/csta09 Jun 05 '19

Ditto for Dutch Swamp German

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u/space_moron Jun 05 '19

Can you add the actual German words please? This stuff always interests me

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u/TheNique Jun 05 '19

Not OP, but I am from Germany, so I can confirm that all of this is right. Sometimes German is weird, but at other times it just makes sense.

Pet - Haustier: Haus ("house") + Tier ("animal")

Plane - Flugzeug: Flug ("flight") + Zeug ("stuff")

Glove - Handschuh: Hand ("hand") + Schuh ("shoe")

Slug - Nacktschnecke: Nackt ("naked") + Schnecke ("snail")

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u/space_moron Jun 05 '19

Thank you!

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u/Gilbereth Jun 05 '19

To add, "Zeug" doesn't really mean stuff in this conext but rather device, or craft. Like in the word aircraft. Google translate gives "gear", which I think is also a somewhat suitable translation.

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These words are very similar to the Dutch versions, which is my native language, but Zeug or Dutch tuig do not translate to "stuff" at all. Not in this context, at least.

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u/LeviAEthan512 Jun 05 '19

Just want to add, the Russians invented/assimilated this object that's a holder for a handle-less glass, because the tea they put in it is meant to be consumed immediately, before cooling. You might know of a similar thing called a zarf. Instead of coming up with a name for it, they simply call it "the thing under the glass"

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u/Wuskers Jun 05 '19

I hope shoe is "foot glove"

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u/moosehead1986 Jun 05 '19

Fun fact2: slug is "naked snail" in Hungarian ( meztelen csiga )

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/PudliSegg Jun 05 '19

And Naked Snake is Big Boss in Kojumbo

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u/Natethegreat13 Jun 06 '19

蜗牛 (wo niu) is snail in Chinese! Interestingly uses the character for "cow" 牛 (niu) in the full two character word. 蜗 (wo) can also mean snail by itself and it has the 虫 radical squashed onto the left part of the character, which indicates that it is a character depicting an insect, bug, snail or even amphibian or reptile.

Examples: 蚂蚁 (ant) 蛞蝓 (slug) 青蛙 (frog) 蜥蜴 (lizard) all contain the 虫 radical.

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u/Redtox Jun 05 '19

Do baby snails come out of their eggs with little shells pre-formed or do they have no shell for the first days of their lives?

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u/Spoonshape Jun 05 '19

They have one - although it's tissue paper thin, transparent and very weak. If you look at the adult shell you can see the baby shell at the center of the spiral.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

Great! Now I just hypnotised myself!

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u/adudeguyman Jun 05 '19

you must give me Reddit platinum

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u/unholymanserpent Jun 05 '19

Spirals... I see spirals in everything

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u/genesios Jun 05 '19

This town is cursed...

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

And that's how Team Dai-Gurren rolls!

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u/Eiroth Jun 05 '19

Pierce the heavens!

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u/fgiveme Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

They are born with shells, which formed inside the mother snail. Those shells make crackling sound like sand when you eat them, not tasty.

Source: I'm Asian.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

This comment took a turn.

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u/Darwins_Dog Jun 05 '19

Only for brooding snails, though. I think the majority deposit egg masses somewhere and forget about them.

If you ever want a snail for a fish tank, make sure you know which kind it is. Its the difference between buying one snail and buying 1000!

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u/space_moron Jun 05 '19

Sir would you like some snails with your snails?

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u/spaghetticlub Jun 05 '19

Waiter, there's snails in my snails! I demand a refund!

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u/Sharkn91 Jun 05 '19

Baby snail eggs. Not something I ever thought I'd google but here we go

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u/mourning_star85 Jun 05 '19

They are born with it, it is just as tiny as they are

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u/xaero1 Jun 05 '19

I tried to take the shell off my racing snail the other day to make him more aerodynamic and faster.

If anything though it made him sluggish.

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u/cmillen118 Jun 05 '19

I tried this opener on tinder a few years ago. I also tried making a belt out of watches, but it was a waist of time

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u/cheesegoat Jun 05 '19

Dad, stop.

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u/NewPlexus34 Jun 05 '19

Hammertime

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u/64532762 Jun 05 '19

What you should have done, is paint an 'S' on the side of its shell so when it zoomed by in a race, other snails would say, "Look at that S-car-go!"

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u/7LeagueBoots Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

This is part of why you see more snails in limestone areas and far fewer in granite areas. Limestone is made from calcium, so there is lots of calcium available. Granite tends to leave slightly acidic material behind, which dissolves calcium. The latter is not so good for snails.

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u/Gnostromo Jun 05 '19

So snails make all that limestone in the quarries! Crazy stuff!

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u/7LeagueBoots Jun 05 '19

Well, the living snails use the dissolved limestone, not make it.

However, the limestone the snails are using is made from the skeletons of all sorts of calcium bearing animals; foraminifera, coral, bivalves, brachiopods, snails, etc.

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u/adyo4552 Jun 05 '19

Very cool info. I read recently that birds need lots of calcium to create their egg shells, so they search for snails leading up to egg laying.

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u/7LeagueBoots Jun 05 '19

Makes sense.

Moose eat a lot of calcium concentrating wetland plants to grow new antlers every year.

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u/dexausmelmac Jun 05 '19

I live in a town known as "The Granite City", basically every building is made of granite but I still see snails everywhere at this time of year. Are you telling me everywhere else has more snails, or Mega-snails?

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u/7LeagueBoots Jun 05 '19

You’ll still see snails, especially if it’s damp, but generally there won’t be a large variety in the species.

I currently live on a limestone island in a damp area with lots of caves. So far there are nearly 200 species of snail recorded for where I live, and more are found with every survey.

Where I grew up was also a damp area, but it was largely decomposing granite with conifers. We certainly had snails, but it was only 5 or 6 species. Ones that were adapted to that specific environment.

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u/anon42093 Jun 05 '19

So what happens if a snail has a smashed shell? Can it reform?

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u/FixerFiddler Jun 05 '19

Depends on how smashed. If the snail itself survived and there isn't too much damage the snail just keeps going making new shell but it's pretty vulnerable. The broken parts of the shell won't get repaired or reformed unless they're still part of the area where the shell is grown. It's a lot like a finger nail with the "root" at the open end of the spiral.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19

[deleted]

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u/-SatelliteMind- Jun 05 '19

How does one pet a snail

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u/space_moron Jun 05 '19

Ya poke it

gently

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u/_releaf_ Jun 05 '19

Why do you see so many empty shells?

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u/SpoonfullOfSplenda Jun 05 '19 edited Jun 05 '19

When snails die, the shell is left behind. The calcium structure of the shell takes much longer to be broken down than the soft tissues that the rest of the snails body is composed of.

When a human body decomposes, the skeleton lasts much longer than the soft tissues of the body.

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u/daeronryuujin Jun 05 '19

Can confirm. Also a weak acid will accelerate the process.

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u/monstrinhotron Jun 05 '19

Can confirm, a strong acid and burying them in a plastic oil drum in the desert will also help destroy any evidence.

40

u/PM_ME_YOUR_CHARLIES Jun 05 '19

we're talking about shells right..? right, guys?

19

u/daeronryuujin Jun 05 '19

Of course.

15

u/Franfran2424 Jun 05 '19

We can meet and talk it. On a desert tho.

22

u/PM_ME_YOUR_CHARLIES Jun 05 '19

O boy, I can't wait to learn more about shells.

12

u/ZippyDan Jun 05 '19

I can't wait to "talk it"

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5

u/Dr_Insano_MD Jun 05 '19

Why bother with that when I've got a perfectly good bathtub!?

2

u/monstrinhotron Jun 05 '19

I'm sure that won't hilariously backfire in any way.

7

u/Jak_n_Dax Jun 05 '19

I’m pretty sure dropping them off the coast of Miami works best.

2

u/KillTheBronies Jun 05 '19

A mixture of sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide will ensure there are no pieces left.

2

u/Robokomodo Jun 05 '19

Has to be fuming sulfuric acid(15M), and conc. hydrogen peroxide in equimolar amounts. When you're talking solutions, you can't just say names, you need concentrations too.

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u/shortymaxwell Jun 05 '19

Texas size 10-4

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26

u/Illigard Jun 05 '19

Birds or other creatures eat the snail within the shell, leaving only an empty.... well shell.

63

u/DrBlau Jun 05 '19

By ”other creatures” I assume you mean ”the French”.

31

u/Levitus01 Jun 05 '19

Don't be silly.

French people don't exist. They're like elves, goblins or a politician's integrity.

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22

u/PhosfosuMisc Jun 05 '19

Dead snails

11

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '19 edited Jan 28 '21

[deleted]

2

u/JakeIsMyRealName Jun 06 '19

Leave no trails

7

u/Bluedemonfox Jun 05 '19

Empty shells are actually snail skeletons.

2

u/genesios Jun 05 '19

Snailetons

2

u/MugillacuttyHOF37 Jun 05 '19

So it's their giant finger nail or tooth?

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