Callus-carrying Tree-Snail (Partula dentifera ssp. callifera)
This form was described in 1856, originally as a distinct species.
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The following citation about this species in life is from Andrew Garrett.:
“A well-characterized species, restricted to the higher portion of Haamoa valley, on the east coast of Raiatea, where it is not uncommon on foliage. It may be easily determined by its creamy white color, yellow apex, constant parietal tooth, inflated body-whorl, oval or rounded “key-hole” aperture, conspicuous labial tooth and the total absence of epidermis in the adult shells. It is never banded.” [1]
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The shells reached a height of 1,7 to 2,1 cm, they differed from the nominate race in several characters, for example in being more ovate, having an inflated body-whorl and a more open umbilicus. [2]
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The species died out for the same reasons as all the other extinct Polynesian tree-snail species.
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References:
[1] Andrew Garrett: The terrestrial Mollusca inhabiting the Society Islands. Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1884
[2] Justin Gerlach: Icons of Evolution: Pacific Island Tree-Snails of the Family Partulidae. Phelsuma Press 2016
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(public domain)
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edited: 21.10.2017