Gastropoda

This class includes more than 65,000 living species, such as snails and slugs, land snails, various sea snails, and limpets (a type of gastropod that attaches to hard surfaces like rocks, shells, or bones and covers their surface). They exhibit an extraordinary diversity in form and habitat. Gastropods occur in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments, ranging from the deep ocean floor to high mountain regions. Approximately 721 families have been identified within this class, of which 245 are extinct and 476 are extant.

In marine environments, gastropods serve as a food source for other animals; in freshwater habitats, they act as important bioindicators of water quality; and in terrestrial ecosystems, they function as decomposers, playing a key role in nutrient cycling.

Gastropods possess a rich fossil record that extends back to the Cambrian period, more than 500 million years ago. Their fossilized shells provide valuable insights into past marine environments and evolutionary processes. The study of gastropod fossils has contributed to understanding patterns of biodiversity and the impacts of environmental changes throughout geological time.