Biomimicry consists of taking inspiration from the solutions of natural selection adopted by evolution to transpose the principles and processes into human engineering. The approach aims to favor "choices" proven by nature, within the framework of sustainable development; in better harmony with the environment and sustainable in the long term. The concept is based on a key idea: nature always works on a principle of economy and optimal efficiency and it generates no waste (“nothing is lost, everything is transformed”). Whatever the field of application, the biomimetic philosophy is therefore explicitly part of a global strategy of responsible development, concerned with establishing a viable balance between the resources offered by the planet and their exploitation.
From our point of view, it seems to us that the snail has developed 2 different strategies to solve a problem related to gravity. The snail at rest is fixed for its safety under a support in height. It tries to stay as far as possible from the ground to escape its predators (mainly birds and rodents). It therefore tends to fall when its mucus loses adherence and it is no longer able to retain its weight.
Some species of snails have chosen different strategies during their evolution. The Mourgéta snail, for example, has a thick and very solid shell in order to resist shocks due to falls, but they fall more often.
The little gray and the big gray have chosen to refine their shell and therefore lighten it. This saves them many falls, but these are often damaging to their shell. They have therefore developed a complex of proteins in their mucus which has the mission of synthesizing the limestone of their diet and quickly repairing its shell. This faculty offers them the possibility of synthesizing many other natural elements. The most amazing thing is that the vast majority of proteins present in their egg-laying mucus are related to our own human skin.
There are other examples of biomimicry, such as these Iranian student architects who took a desert snail as a model to imagine the design of a building capable of maintaining a temperate temperature...