Partula turgida

Summary

Partula turgida was a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species was endemic to Ra'iātea, French Polynesia. It died out in 1996, and is now extinct.[1] The snail's low rate of movement made it hard to determine the exact date of death but it was confirmed on 31 January.[2]

Partula turgida
Shell of a Partula turgida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Stylommatophora
Family: Partulidae
Genus: Partula
Species:
P. turgida
Binomial name
Partula turgida
(Pease, 1864)

Partula turgida was being kept alive in captivity, when the population suffered a crash caused by the microsporidian genus Steinhausia. This is the first definitive report of an extinction of a species caused by a parasite.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Coote, T. (2009). "Partula turgida". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009: e.T16331A5603037. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T16331A5603037.en. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Tiny Tree Snail Finally Creeps To Extinction". Chicago Tribune. 1 February 1996.
  3. ^ Cunningham A. A. & Daszak P. (1998). "Extinction of a Species of Land Snail Due to Infection with a Microsporidian Parasite". Conservation Biology. 12 (5): 1139–1141. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97485.x. JSTOR 2387588. S2CID 85093320.