Gastropods are one of the biggest sized mollusks and include a great variety of snails and slugs. They live in the sea, in fresh-water, and on land. Gastropods contain a head, with a pair of eyes, tentacles, and a mouth with a rasping lower jaw, and they slide on a large flat mucus-covered foot. Some gastropods are meat-eating or carnivorous, while others are herbivorous, and yet others eat dead and decayed matter. Aquatic gastropods breathe through gills, while land-dwelling gastropods have lungs.
Gastropods arose early in the Cambrian period, and diversified greatly in the Carboniferous period. Despite the mass extinctions at the end of the Permian period, some species of Gastropods managed to survive, and started to diversify again. From the beginning of the Tertiary sub-era to the present, gastropods have come to dominate many of the environments in which they live. They are probably more Gastropods.
Gastropods arose early in the Cambrian period, and diversified greatly in the Carboniferous period. Despite the mass extinctions at the end of the Permian period, some species of Gastropods managed to survive, and started to diversify again. From the beginning of the Tertiary sub-era to the present, gastropods have come to dominate many of the environments in which they live. They are probably more Gastropods.
