Today in the world of science, a new land snail has been named in honour of equal marriage rights.
The hermaphroditic snail, which was discovered in Taiwan, has been christened the Aegista diversifamilia, because it “represents the diversity of sex orientation in the animal kingdom”, according to researchers, who wrote of their findings in the journal ZooKeys on Monday.
Dr. Yen-Chang Lee, a professor at Academia Sinica in Taipei and one of the authors of the report explained the significance of the name.
“When we were preparing the manuscript, it was a period when Taiwan and many other countries and states were struggling for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights.
“It reminded us that Pulmonata land snails are hermaphrodite animals, which means they have both male and female reproductive organs in single individual. They represent the diversity of sex orientation in the animal kingdom.
“We decided that maybe this is a good occasion to name the snail to remember the struggle for the recognition of same-sex marriage rights.”
Taiwanese land snail Aegista subchinensis was first discovered in 1884. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that Dr. Lee realised there may actually be two species of snail when documenting slight physical differences between Eastern and Western snail populations.
Chih-Wei Huang, a national candidate at National Taiwan Normal University used Dr. Lee’s findings as a base to study the snails’ molecular markings, eventually earning the Aegista diversifamilia its own biological classification.
The Aegista diversifamilia has a larger, flatter shell than its brethren, and is also related to a third species of land snail found on Japan’s Ishigaki Island.
Sophie Joske
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