Snails Give Insight into Human Migration
- 11 years ago
Scientific evidence suggests that snails in Ireland are more closely related to snails in France and Spain than species found in England. There has already been evidence that Irish people are genetically more closely related to people from Iberia, and the snails might have been brought over with the migration of people to Ireland.
Can snails provide insights into human history?
Scientific evidence suggests that snails in Ireland are more closely related to snails inhttp France and Spain than species found in England.
Researchers took muscle tissue samples from 880 snails, and compared the mitochondrial DNA with other species that live in Europe.
They found that the Irish snails share common genes with snails from the Eastern Pyrenees region on the border of France and Spain.
Co-author of the study Angus Davison from the University of Nottingham said: “What we’re actually seeing might be the long lasting legacy of snails that hitched a ride, accidentally or perhaps as food, as humans traveled from the South of France to Ireland 8,000 years ago.”
There has already been evidence that Irish people are genetically more closely related to people from Iberia, and the snails might have been brought over with the migration of people to Ireland.
There are records of Mesolithic and Stone Age humans eating snails, so they may have been a carry on source of food.
Can snails provide insights into human history?
Scientific evidence suggests that snails in Ireland are more closely related to snails inhttp France and Spain than species found in England.
Researchers took muscle tissue samples from 880 snails, and compared the mitochondrial DNA with other species that live in Europe.
They found that the Irish snails share common genes with snails from the Eastern Pyrenees region on the border of France and Spain.
Co-author of the study Angus Davison from the University of Nottingham said: “What we’re actually seeing might be the long lasting legacy of snails that hitched a ride, accidentally or perhaps as food, as humans traveled from the South of France to Ireland 8,000 years ago.”
There has already been evidence that Irish people are genetically more closely related to people from Iberia, and the snails might have been brought over with the migration of people to Ireland.
There are records of Mesolithic and Stone Age humans eating snails, so they may have been a carry on source of food.