Eremina desertorum
| Eremina desertorum | |
|---|---|
| |
| The revived British Museum specimen (Woodcut, after a drawing by A. N. Waterhouse, from page 7 of the book 'A Manual of the Mollusca' (1851), by Samuel Pickworth Woodward. | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Helicidae |
| Genus: | Eremina |
| Species: | E. desertorum
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| Binomial name | |
| Eremina desertorum (Forskål, 1775)
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| Synonyms | |
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Eremina desertorum (formerly Helix desertorum) is a species of land snails in the genus Eremina.[1][2][3] It is native to desert regions in Egypt[4] and Israel.[5]
A specimen from Egypt, initially thought to be dead was glued to an index card at the British Museum in March 1846. However, in March 1850, it was discovered to be alive.[6] The Canadian writer Grant Allen observed:[7]
The Museum authorities accordingly ordered our friend a warm bath (who shall say hereafter that science is unfeeling!), upon which the grateful snail, waking up at the touch of the familiar moisture, put his head cautiously out of his shell, walked up to the top of the basin, and began to take a cursory survey of British institutions with his four eye-bearing tentacles. So strange a recovery from a long torpid condition, only equalled by that of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, deserved an exceptional amount of scientific recognition.
It is reported that the museum specimen was then transferred to a large glass jar where it lived for a further two years, subsisting largely on cabbage leaves.[8] During this period, it successfully re-entered and exited torpor once more.[8]
Later studies demonstrated that the species could survive in suspended animation without food or water for even longer. In 1904, 40 snails were placed in a tin box as part of an experiment. Approximately 8 years later, in 1912, 10 of these snails were found to be still alive.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "Eremina desertorum". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ^ Fahmy, O. G. (June 1949). "Oogenesis in the desert snail Eremina desertorum with special reference to vitellogenesis". Q J Microsc Sci. 90 Pt. 2 (2): 159–81. PMID 18132293.
- ^ Hassan, Kamaleldin M. (2015). "Stable isotopic signatures of the modern land snail Eremina desertorum from a low-latitude (hot) dry desert – A study from the Petrified Forest, New Cairo, Egypt". Chemie der Erde – Geochemistry. 75 (1): 65–72. Bibcode:2015ChEG...75...65H. doi:10.1016/j.chemer.2014.09.002. ISSN 0009-2819.
- ^ Ali, Reham F.; Neiber, Marco T.; Walther, Frank; Hausdorf, Bernhard (January 2016). "Morphological and genetic differentiation of E remina desertorum ( G astropoda, P ulmonata, H elicidae) in E gypt". Zoologica Scripta. 45 (1): 48–61. doi:10.1111/zsc.12134. ISSN 0300-3256.
- ^ Arad, Zeev (1993-05-01). "Water relations and resistance to desiccation in three Israeli desert snails, Eremina desertorum, Euchondrus desertorum and Euchondrus albulus". Journal of Arid Environments. 24 (4): 387–395. Bibcode:1993JArEn..24..387A. doi:10.1006/jare.1993.1032. ISSN 0140-1963.
- ^ "The desert snail at once awoke and found himself famous". MetaFilter. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
- ^ Allen, Grant (1889). Falling in Love; With Other Essays on More Exact Branches of Science. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ a b Hamilton, James (1854). Excelsior: Helps to Progress in Religion, Science, and Literature. Vol. 1. James Nisbet and Co. pp. 344–45.
- ^ Smith, E. A. (1913). Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. Vol. 10, 1912–1913. London: Dulau & Co. p. 49.