The Lyons Share

This is the Round-mouthed Snail Pomatias elegans. This snail is common on the chalk in Sussex, I found dozens in and near a quadrat today at Malling Down (as well as dead rabbit - not quite as gross as a cow's afterbirth but still one of the more unusual items I've found in a quadrat). They are one of the few snails that has an operculum, a disk that sticks to the body of the snail that is then used to plug the hole of the shell when the snail retracts inwards. I like the way that the operculum has a geometric pattern showing the growth rings in an unusual asymmetrical way. The shell is quite thick, strongly ribbed and easy to identify. I bet it gets hot in there in the summer with the door shut!