What was in the water when the folks at DreamWorks Animation decided to make a 3-D digital feature about a snail who wants to race in the Indy 500? “Turbo,” directed by David Soren from his ...

They become sluggish and clumsy, he said, unable to close the operculum -- a small, hard plate the animal closes over its shell opening when threatened. Ford said the snails revealed another skill ...

like other members of the snail family, have what’s called an operculum, or “trap door” that they can close up when they “pull in their foot,” or when the fleshy part of the snail hides ...