Partula turgida

Partula turgida
Shell of a Partula turgida
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Orthurethra

Superfamily: Partuloidea
Family: Partulidae
Genus: Partula
Species: P. turgida
Binomial name
Partula turgida
(Pease, 1864)

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]

P. 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

  1. 1 2 Coote, T. (2009). "Partula turgida". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  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. Retrieved 26 February 2014.


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