Latest news with #TarrynWilliamsClow
Sydney Morning Herald
30-05-2025
- Science
- Sydney Morning Herald
The aphrodisiac that unlocked the secret sex life of snails
Toilet rolls didn't cut it. Nor did PVC pipes. But sterilised palm fronds turned out to be the perfect aphrodisiac for a rare species of Norfolk Island snail thought to be extinct until five years ago. Fifteen specimens of Campbell's Keeled Glass-Snail (Advena campbellii) have multiplied into 800 in four years in a captive breeding program at Taronga Zoo Sydney. Next week, 600 of the gastropods will be placed in tanks packed into eskies and flown back to Norfolk Island for eventual wild release. Snails are hermaphrodites, but that doesn't mean they don't have sex. Some species are capable of self-fertilisation, but sexual reproduction ensures genetic diversity. Tarryn Williams Clow, senior keeper at Taronga Zoo, said these snails were 'very secretive' about their sex lives. 'In all the years that we've had them here at Taronga Zoo, not once has any keeper really seen them mating,' Williams Clow said. 'We think maybe once we got a glimpse, but they're very private little snails.' What the keepers have witnessed is the snails giving birth to live young with fully formed shells through a genital pore on their necks. Dr Isabel Hyman, research scientist at Australian Museum, said similar species of snails have sex.
The Age
30-05-2025
- Science
- The Age
The aphrodisiac that unlocked the secret sex life of snails
Toilet rolls didn't cut it. Nor did PVC pipes. But sterilised palm fronds turned out to be the perfect aphrodisiac for a rare species of Norfolk Island snail thought to be extinct until five years ago. Fifteen specimens of Campbell's Keeled Glass-Snail (Advena campbellii) have multiplied into 800 in four years in a captive breeding program at Taronga Zoo Sydney. Next week, 600 of the gastropods will be placed in tanks packed into eskies and flown back to Norfolk Island for eventual wild release. Snails are hermaphrodites, but that doesn't mean they don't have sex. Some species are capable of self-fertilisation, but sexual reproduction ensures genetic diversity. Tarryn Williams Clow, senior keeper at Taronga Zoo, said these snails were 'very secretive' about their sex lives. 'In all the years that we've had them here at Taronga Zoo, not once has any keeper really seen them mating,' Williams Clow said. 'We think maybe once we got a glimpse, but they're very private little snails.' What the keepers have witnessed is the snails giving birth to live young with fully formed shells through a genital pore on their necks. Dr Isabel Hyman, research scientist at Australian Museum, said similar species of snails have sex.
