This is a Curio from Brains On, where we're serious about being curious.

Brains On is supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

You're listening to Brains On from American Public Media.

I'm Molly Bloom.

Being left-handed or right-handed can definitely affect the way we experience life.

Have you ever picked up a pair of scissors that just felt wrong in your hand?

Usually that mismatch is just a minor nuisance.

But sometimes, sightedness can change the future of an entire species.

That's what our next piece is about.

The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles recently acquired a rare creature after asking people

to post photos on the eye naturalist app, which is used for identifying animals and plants

by scientists and citizens alike.

High school senior Alex Barstow from Carl's Bad California posted a very odd European garden

snail.

This kind of snail is usually dextral, meaning its shell is coiled up on the right side of

its body.

But this particular snail was different.

Its shell coiled to the left.

Now, this isn't like having curly hair versus straight hair.

The side, these shells coiled toward dictates the direction of the snail's reproductive organs.

So this snail won't be able to reproduce unless it finds another left-handed or left-shelled

mate.

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