Shape, surface and microstructural characteristics of landsnail shells and theirs function.

Snails are popular group of invertebrates which intrigues people with their shell. Land snail shells take a variety of shapes and colors, their surface is covered by various surface structures. Shape of the shell is often afected by the environment in which snails live. Elongated shells are found on snails crawling along vertical surfaces, however snails with flattened shells crawl primarily on a horizontal surface. Keeled snails often hide in cracks in the rocks and under stones. Just as the shape is affected by the environment, so can the environment affect the surface structure and microstructure of the shell. We can find a snail with a shell that is covered with hairs in a humid environment and snails with thick periostracal layer in acidic one. The findings summarized in this thesis can be helpful to paleontological reconstructions of the environment, and in morphological identification of recent species by their shells