Nutrition

     Being unable to observe or obtain information specific to Patera kiowaensis and what they eat, we will explore feeding behaviors typical of terrestrial pulmonate gastropods. Land snails of North America can be classified as herbivores, detritivores, fungivores, or combinations of the three (Hickman 2009). Snails like Patera kiowaensis utilize their sense of smell to locate potential food and specialized structures called radulae to scrape small amounts of food into their mouth (Chase 1993). Radulae are sharp enough to chip away at rock and soil which is necessary for the snail to obtain the nutrients essential for shell growth.

Radula shape and size can vary from species to species, but the radulae of land snails are typically likened to chitinous sandpaper and efficient for rasping food items (Gillis 2012). Above is a drawing which displays the  scraping nature of snail radulae. A video of moving snail radula can also be found here.

Learn how Patera kiowaensis reproduces by visiting Reproduction or Go to Home Page