Thursday 26 August 2010

Thought for the day/Quote of the Week- Steve Jones on snail sex



"In the Middle Ages, they believed that snails, because of their shells, don't have sex. So the snail was an image of purity and, here, [in "Annunciation" by Francesco Del Cossa] the Immaculate Conception. We know now that they were completely wrong- snails have sex in the most gothic and complicated ways you can imagine" - Prof. J. Steve Jones- University College London, quoted in "Intelligent Life" magazine (vol 3, issue 4,p138) Summer 2010.

(above- two snails that won't be having sex anytime soon- image by V. Neblik).

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