Temperature-sensitive snail species named after Greta Thunberg

Temperature-sensitive snail species named after Greta Thunberg

02/20/2020

A tiny brown snail species was named after teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg — because the unfortunate critter got stuck adapting to a planet that’s hot as ‘shell,’ researchers said.

The temperature-sensitive slimer— dubbed Craspedotropis gretathunberga — was discovered recently by scientists on the island of Borneo near Malaysia, according to the Biodiversity Data Journal.

“The newly described snail belongs to the so-called caenogastropods, a group of land snails known to be sensitive to drought, temperature extremes and forest degradation,” Menno Schilthuizen, of the scientific research group Taxon Expeditions, said in a press release.

The 2 mm-long mollusk, which have gray tentacles and a concave shell, were named after the Swedish climate change crusader because they have been forced to “fix problems they did not create,” said researcher J.P. Lim.

“Naming this snail after Greta Thunberg is our way of acknowledging that her generation will be responsible for fixing problems that they did not create. And it’s a promise that people from all generations will join her to help,” Lim said.

Thunberg told group she was “delighted” that the snail had been named after her, researchers said.

The heat-zapped snails were discovered at the foot of a steep hill near a river bank.

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