Nutrition

     A sculpted glyph's main source of food is plant debris.  This can include decaying leaves and wood, as well as live plants (Hotopp, 2002).  This mode of feeding correlates with the environments which Glyphyalinia inhabit.  They are often found on forest floors or rocky areas, both locations which have abundant leaf and plant matter. 
     G. rhoadsi, along with the entire class Gastropoda, are what as known as grazers (Eisenhour et al. 2007).  This means that as they move along they feed on items located on the surfaces on which they travel.  In order to accomplish this type of nutrition acquisition, gastropods have many physical adaptations and features specific to this type of feeding.  One of the most important physical characteristics for grazing is the presence of radula (see image below).  This is an organ made of chitin which is used for scraping off food and carrying it to the mouth (Eisenhour et al., 2007).

This image show the location and action of a radula in a gastropod.

Now, let's take a look at the specifics of sculpted glyph reproduction.


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