News in Brief Anthropology

Snails trace Stone Age trek from Iberia to Ireland

Genetic quirk linking snails in two distant areas suggests people brought escargot on migration to Emerald Isle

Irish land snails share genetic characteristics with Iberian snails, hinting at an 8,000 year-old human migration from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Emerald Isle.

Lauren Holden

By Tina Hesman Saey

- More than 2 years ago

Stone Age people may have carried land snails on a voyage from the Pyrenees to Ireland, an examination of the snails’ DNA reveals.