Snails Hitched Ride on Birds to Cross Atlantic 48

Posted by Hemos on Thursday January 26, 2006 @10:50AM from the come-and-take-a-ride-with-a-helluva-guy dept.

Ant writes "This MSNBC story reports that snails hitched ride on birds to cross ocean separated by 5,500 miles of water (Europe to an island in the South Atlantic) are same genus. This was according to a new research. Snails of the genus Balea are found throughout Europe and the Azores, the group of islands in the middle of the North Atlantic, and similar snails can be found on a tiny island chain in the South Atlantic. Because of the enormous distance between these two groups, scientists have long believed they belonged to a different genus, Tristania. Now, genetic and anatomical analyses show that the Tristania snails are actually members of the Balea genus. The study, published in the journal Nature, indicates that Balea snails somehow traveled from Europe to the Azores and evolved into two different species. Then, some packed up and headed 5,500 miles south to Tristan da Cunha, where they further differentiated into eight more species... Seen on Shacknews."

Snails Hitched Ride on Birds to Cross Atlantic

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Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes:

Hrm?
- - Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by LightningBolt! ( 664763 ) writes:
    
    Guard: "What, a swallow, carrying an elephant?"
    
    Arthur: "It could grip it by the tusk."
    
    Guard: "It's not a question of where he grips it. It's a simple question of weight ratios. A five ounce bird could not carry a 2000 pound elephant!"
    - Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2)
      
      by XxtraLarGe ( 551297 ) writes:
      
      Is that an African Swallow, or a European Swallow?
- Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2)
  
  by dangitman ( 862676 ) writes:
  
  They hitched a lift with the whales.
- unladen birds? (Score:2)
  
  by infinite9 ( 319274 ) writes:
  
  What if they were carried on a line...
  - Re:unladen birds? (Score:2, Insightful)
    
    by Savantissimo ( 893682 ) * writes:
    
    Good idea - this gives us an opportunity for another layer of protocol tunneling - IP over Snail over Carrier-Pigeon. The data rate and ping times might be low, but now it has hard-shelled security.
Aesop's Fables (Score:3, Interesting)

by jahudabudy ( 714731 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @10:52AM (#14567962)

I seem to recall a similar story about a turtle and some birds from Aesop's Fables. Life imitating art?

- Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:2)
  
  by meringuoid ( 568297 ) writes:
  
  I seem to recall a similar story about a turtle and some birds from Aesop's Fables. Life imitating art?
  I recall the story of the death of Aeschylus, and the uncannily similar death of the False Prophet Vorbis...
  I also recall this being one hypothesis for how the seed of the coconut tree managed to spread itself. Unfortunately, the theory ran into difficulties regarding the practical lifting power of the available avians.
  - Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:1)
    
    by boldtbanan ( 905468 ) writes:
    
    Which do you mean, African or European avians?
  - Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:1)
    
    by gEvil (beta) ( 945888 ) writes:
    
    Dammit! You beat me to it...
- Nitpicking (Score:1)
  
  by xorowo ( 733585 ) writes:
  
  Since this migration probably happened hundreds of thousands of years ago (or, perhaps, millions), it's highly unlikely that life is imitating art here. Unless, of course, Aesop wrote his Fables long before written language was formed.
  - Re:Nitpicking (Score:1)
    
    by jahudabudy ( 714731 ) writes:
    
    Yeah, I was actually thinking more along the lines of "old legend assumed to be a mere story that turns out to have a grain of truth buried in it", but that isn't nearly as pithy as "art imitating life", which is what I was thinking. Damn computers, always doing what I say, when they know damn well it isn't what I really mean.
Snails hitching rides on Birds? (Score:2)

by wertarbyte ( 811674 ) writes:

They are probably brainslugs. Watch out!
now i know (Score:4, Funny)

by middlemen ( 765373 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @10:54AM (#14567993)

Oh good... now I finally know how snail mail works!

- Re:now i know (Score:2)
  
  by dangitman ( 862676 ) writes:
  
  Scientists have always wanted to understand the Pidgeon-to-Pidgeon transfer protocol.
Obl. Monthy Python (Score:4, Funny)

by pimpimpim ( 811140 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @10:55AM (#14568006)

Did they ride on the back of an african or a european swallow?

- Re:Obl. Monthy Python (Score:1)
  
  by gowen ( 141411 ) writes:
  
  Not on the back, no. They were carried in half a hollowed-out coconut, strung between two swallows.
snail seen on Shacknews? (Score:2)

by Cruciform ( 42896 ) writes:

where they further differentiated into eight more species... Seen on Shacknews."

Well, there's some pretty slimy people in the comments over there, but I wouldn't call them snails. :)
A simpler answer (Score:1)

by feijai ( 898706 ) writes:

The FSM put the snails on both sides of the Atlantic. To test our faith!
- Quite wrong... (Score:3, Funny)
  
  by meringuoid ( 568297 ) writes:
  
  ... it's obviously that the snails got there by way of a lost continent which formed a land bridge! This sunken land I am convinced we will find if we look hard enough, and I call it Snailuria!
- Re:A simpler answer (Score:1)
  
  by bbc ( 126005 ) writes:
  
  I am pretty sure pirates helped the snail cross the ocean.
Ants (Score:4, Interesting)

by Kickersny.com ( 913902 ) writes: <kickers.gmail@com> on Thursday January 26, 2006 @11:13AM (#14568282) Homepage

This reminds me of a similar fact I heard that ants have been found on every island of the world, with no obvious explanation as to how they got there.

Ironically enough, the Captcha image below is for the word "anteater."

- Re:Ants (Score:4, Interesting)
  
  by idonthack ( 883680 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @11:39AM (#14568668)
  
  There are no native ants on Hawaii. All were introduced by Europeans. It's probably true for a few other islands also.
  
- Re:Ants (Score:2)
  
  by east coast ( 590680 ) writes:
  
  This reminds me of a similar fact I heard that ants have been found on every island of the world, with no obvious explanation as to how they got there.
  
  I think it's because the ants burrow into the husks of coconuts. These said coconuts are carried by birds to various islands.
  
  At least that's what I was told by this guy who told me the some great tricks to spot witches and stop earthquakes.
- Re:Ants (Score:2)
  
  by antdude ( 79039 ) writes:
  
  I know Argentine ants hitchiked on a ship from South American to other countries like United States. See http://www-biology.ucsd.edu/news/article_051500.h t ml [ucsd.edu] ...
  
  "The tiny dark-brown and black ants, which are about two millimeters in length, are thought to have entered the United States aboard ships carrying coffee or sugar from Argentina during the 1890s, then expanded throughout California and the southern parts of the United States. In the Southeast and much of the South, their proliferation is now limit
- Re:Ants (Score:2)
  
  by barakn ( 641218 ) writes:
  
  You did know ants can fly [colostate.edu], didn't you?
This also explains... (Score:5, Funny)

by east coast ( 590680 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @11:17AM (#14568333)

This also explains coconut migration.

- Re:This also explains... (Score:1)
  
  by dohzer ( 867770 ) writes:
  
  I guess a swallow could grip it by the husk!
- Re:This also explains... (Score:1)
  
  by AngelofDeath-02 ( 550129 ) writes:
  
  I was always told that coconut migrated by being dropped in the ocean and being carried elsewhere by the waves of the ocean... That is ofcourse something I learned as a child and really don't question. But yah.
  - Re:This also explains... (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by SillySlashdotName ( 466702 ) writes:
    
    Not according to
    (chorus: HALLELUJAH!)
    Monty Python!
    (chorus: Amen, Brother!)
    
    And who are you going to believe, some anonymous somebody or
    (chorus: HALLELUJAH!)
    Monty Python?
    - Re:This also explains... (Score:1)
      
      by AngelofDeath-02 ( 550129 ) writes:
      
      hmm sorry I'm not a monty python fan, so I didn't get the joke
Air Escargot (Score:3, Funny)

by Ranger ( 1783 ) writes: on Thursday January 26, 2006 @11:19AM (#14568368) Homepage

I for one welcome our bird-riding snail overlords. Oh, forget it! This is just getting silly.

Monkeys have also been employed by snails (Score:1)

by Tedium Unleased ( 764661 ) writes:

http://70.86.201.113/imageserv2/temporary/PBF056AD SlowEscape.jpg [70.86.201.113]
- - Re:Monkeys have also been employed by snails (Score:1)
    
    by Tedium Unleased ( 764661 ) writes:
    
    Wow... thanks. I thought sloths were like a mythical creature from the bible or something, related to the one of the deadly sins.
If Snail can do it... (Score:2)

by Zangief ( 461457 ) writes:

Coconuts can too!

King Arthur was right!
- Re:If Snail can do it... (Score:1)
  
  by NMThor ( 949485 ) writes:
  
  African or European?
I know this will help with computations (Score:1)

by Jakuta ( 643082 ) writes:

Now we can see how long the journey will take the snails. http://www.style.org/unladenswallow/ [style.org]
Maybe they just walked. (Score:2)

by Keith McClary ( 14340 ) writes:

Maybe they just walked across the seafloor.

Or however you describe their locomotion - is there a word for that?
- Re:Maybe they just walked. (Score:2)
  
  by east coast ( 590680 ) writes:
  
  Or however you describe their locomotion - is there a word for that?
  
  What? Slithering around in your own icker? The word I use for it is "gross".

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Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2)

Re:Ok, but how did the elephants do it? (Score:2)

unladen birds? (Score:2)

Re:unladen birds? (Score:2, Insightful)

Aesop's Fables (Score:3, Interesting)

Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:2)

Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:1)

Re:Aesop's Fables (Score:1)

Nitpicking (Score:1)

Re:Nitpicking (Score:1)

Snails hitching rides on Birds? (Score:2)

now i know (Score:4, Funny)

Re:now i know (Score:2)

Obl. Monthy Python (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Obl. Monthy Python (Score:1)

snail seen on Shacknews? (Score:2)

A simpler answer (Score:1)

Quite wrong... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:A simpler answer (Score:1)

Ants (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:Ants (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:Ants (Score:2)

Re:Ants (Score:2)

Re:Ants (Score:2)

This also explains... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:This also explains... (Score:1)

Re:This also explains... (Score:1)

Re:This also explains... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:This also explains... (Score:1)

Air Escargot (Score:3, Funny)

Monkeys have also been employed by snails (Score:1)

Re:Monkeys have also been employed by snails (Score:1)

If Snail can do it... (Score:2)

Re:If Snail can do it... (Score:1)

I know this will help with computations (Score:1)

Maybe they just walked. (Score:2)

Re:Maybe they just walked. (Score:2)

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