This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Snails carry weather records on their backs that could be used to map prehistoric cyclones, a University of Queensland study has shown. The project led by School of the Environment researchers examined the rings on the shell of a Biggenden Banded Snail (Figuladra bayensis) collected from Coalstoun Lakes National Park in southeast Queensland.
The paper is published in The Holocene journal. Nicholas Patton said tiny samples of the shell taken at millimeter intervals revealed the age of the snail, when it lived and the weather during its lifetime. "We used high-resolution radiocarbon dating to determine the age of the growth bands in the shell," Patton said.
"It contained elevated levels of radiocarbon from the nuclear tests in Australia in the 1960s, meaning we could date the growth bands and reveal the snail had lived for about 4.5 years. "Analyzing the oxygen and carbon stable isotopes of the different bands revealed insights into the rainfall the snail experienced. "What we saw was the shell did not grow continuously during the snail's life; there were periods of rapid growth separated by periods of little or no growth." Honorary Professor Jamie Shulmeister said the team initially expected the rapid growth phases to correspond to years with heavier rainfall, making more food available for the snail.
"But the results showed the snail was responding to extreme rainfall events rather than annual wetness," Shulmeister said. "Because we knew when the snail lived, the growth spurts could be linked to periods immediately following cyclones in 2015 and 2017. "Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia and Tropical Cyclone Debbie both caused extreme rainfall within Coalstoun Lakes National Park.
"It shows that snail shells could be used to map extreme weather events during periods before modern meteorological records. "It was surprising and quite exciting that the humble snail could be a tool to reconstruct the paths of past cyclones even in prehistoric times." The researchers' next step is to test the approach. "If we are able to find shells within different layers of sediment deposits, we can combine the individual shell records together to extend this information further back in time," Patton said.
Patton et al, Evaluating the Biggenden Banded Snail ( Figuladra bayensis ) as a climate archive for SE Queensland, Australia, using stable isotopes and 14 C dating, The Holocene (2026). DOI: 10.1177/09596836261477272 BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries.
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