• Question: why do snails go so slow

    Asked by jonnyp97 to David, Rebecca, Simon, Verity, Wei on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Verity Nye

      Verity Nye answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Snails have to keep quite a large area of their body in contact with the ground. The more surface area you have in contact with the ground, the slower you go, due to friction.
      Snails move using a body called the foot (the bit that sticks out underneath the shell). The foot is made up of lots of tiny muscles which move in a wavelike motion to move the snail forward. They secrete a sticky mucus from the foot & the foot must keep in contact with the mucus over a big enough area to maintain contact with the ground.

    • Photo: Wei Xun

      Wei Xun answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I suppose they mustn’t need to go any faster otherwise they would have evolved to move faster.

      Had to google for this: http://is.gd/XlzVK4

    • Photo: Rebecca Handley

      Rebecca Handley answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      I guess its also to hide from predators, if they move slowly it would be harder to see them and they’d blend in more. I think maybe they have a very slow metabolism, so they literally cant move any faster.

    • Photo: Simon Trent

      Simon Trent answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      Do they really go that slowly, when you consider their size? Maybe they’re a bit slower than an ant or woodlouse. This is probably due to a lack of legs, and has to slide instead.

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