The diet of land snails that are detritivores usually consists of decaying plant material and fungi. Animal carrion is also consumed, and is usually composed of invertebrates like earthworms and other snails. However, while working at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in southwestern North Carolina in 2017, I observed a land snail (most likely Cepaea nemoralis [Grove Snail]) feeding on the carcass of a Desmognathus aeneus (Seepage Salamander), a vertebrate. This is the first report of a land snail feeding on an amphibian carcass in the United States. The Erratum for this article can be found in Southeastern Naturalist 19(3).
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6 February 2020
Vertebrate Carrion in Land Snail Diets: First Observation of Amphibian (Plethodontid Salamander) Consumption by a Terrestrial Snail in Southern Appalachia
Jeremy D. Pustilnik
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Southeastern Naturalist
Vol. 19 • No. 1
March 2020
Vol. 19 • No. 1
March 2020