La Digue Landsnail (Pachnodus ladiguensis)

The La Digue Landsnail was described in 2003; it was restricted to the island of La Digue in the Seychelles.

The species is only known from subfossil material which had been found at about 15 cm below the surface; it is believed that this snail died out shortly after the Seychelles were colonized by human settlers in the late 18th century; the most likely reason for its disappearance is thought to have been human disturbance, especially forest clearance.

The shells reach heights of about 2.7 cm; their coloration was originally mahagony brown with a dark spiral band on the middle of the body whorl and a pink tint on the columella; however, most specimens that were found are bleached, thus it is unknown if the spiral band and the pinkish columella were normal characters. [1]

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References:

[1] J. Gerlach: New terrestrial Gastropoda (Mollusca) from Seychelles. Phelsuma 11: 39-51. 2003
[2] Justin Gerlach: Red Listing reveals the true state of biodiversity: a comprehensive assessment of Seychelles biodiversity. Phesluma 20: 9-22. 2012

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edited: 29.01.2024