Cowie’s Kleokyphus Snail (Kleokyphus cowiei)

This species was described in 2014 on the basis of subfossil specimens that were recovered from a large, shaded fault in the limestone cliff at the eastern shore of Makatea, Tuamotu Archipelago.

The shells reach sizes of less than 0.5 cm in diameter; they are depressed, white to fawn-colored and usually worn and thus without markings, however, some specimens show traces of faint, regularly spaced, amber-colored flammulations; the umbilicus is U-shaped.

The species, like so many other Polynesian gastropods, is now extinct.

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References:

[1] André F Sartori; Olivier Gargominy; Benoît Fontaine: radiation and decline of endodontid land snails in Makatea, French Polynesia. Zootaxa 3772: 1-68. 2014

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edited: 1403.2024