The tale of Jeremy the “ lefty ” snail captured hearts across the earth . The feisty snail with a one in a million genetic anomaly that meant his search for love was that much harderhas unhappily conk out . The tale involving a tragical Italian sandwich , a public appeal , and love interests - turned love rivals , may have come to an end , but not without one last plot twist .
Our story start in fair Verona . Actually , it starts in a compost spate in London in 2016 , where Jeremy was find by a former scientist from London ’s Natural History Museum , who distinguish his left - coil shell as a “ one in a million ” genetic mutation .
That genetic mutation meant his shell coiled from forget to right , mean sexual urge with another escargot would be rather unmanageable , as his genitals were on the unseasonable side .
In fact , Jeremy was so rare , University of Nottingham researchers put out apublic appealto help happen another lefty for him to mate with .
blithely , two potential dear interests were get hold in June this year . However , disaster struck when alternatively of vying for the attentions of our hero , the two snails , Lefty and Tomeau , turned to each other instead . ( Fun fact : snails are hermaphrodites , so have both sets of procreative organs ) .
Lefty successfully had children , and poor jilted Jeremy , in a heroic show of being the fully grown snail , was spotted by his babyminder move as “ uncle ” to the teeny gastropods .
The scientists were disappointed his search for love was unsuccessful , however , in a last - minute wrench , it turns out just before he died he actually mated with former love - competitor Tomeau , becoming a begetter to hundreds of little Jezzas .
“ The scientist in me has tried to persist dispassionate about the saga of Jeremy ’s lovelife because I am mostly concerned in the underlying science , ” Dr Angus Davison , an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Nottingham , who studied Jeremey , told theMail Online .
But the strange story go viral , first take in the public ’s imagination , and then the medium ’s , with#LeftySnailtrending , until eventually he wasimmortalized in birdcall .
“ On the other deal , if it had not been for the supporter of the public , then we would not have got this far and Jeremy would likely never have found a mate , ” Dr Davison summate .
OK , technically the interest in Jeremy ’s making love sprightliness was n’t strictly selfless . There was much scientific pursuit in the unusual creature , from whether his rare mutation was inherit ( offspring would help this research ) , to seeing if lefty materialization could help us see the leftover and right sides of human body and brains , or even shed light on a rarified human heart stipulation .
But for now , RIP Jeremey . For one so small , you sure enough left your scar on the world .
