Leucothoe Tree-Snail (Palaopartula leucothoe)
The Palau Islands, as far as it is known, are home to three endemic tree-snail species, the Calypso Tree-Snail (Palaopartula calypso (Semper)), the Leucothoe Tree-Snail, and the Thetis Tree-Snail (Palaopartula thetis (Semper)), all of which seem to have originally been collected on the island of Peleliu.
These three species are most closely related to the species that live in Melanesia, yet form their own subgenus (Palaopartula), which has now been elevated to full genus status. [3]
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During field surveys in the year 2005, only one species, the Calypso Tree-Snail, could be relocated.
The notorious ‘snail killers’ (Rosy Wolfsnail (Euglandina rosea (Férussac)), Snail-eating Flatworm (Platydemus monokwari (De Beauchamp)) et al.), that have been introduced to so many islands, seem to haven’t yet reached the Palau Islands.
The Leucothoe Tree-Snail is, however, nevertheless, most likely extinct.
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References:
[1] Rebecca J. Rundell: The land snails of Belau: Survey of the 16 States. Report. Distributed to Federal, State and Local Governments and NGOs, Republic of Palau. 2005
[2] Ric Brewer; Jesse Czekanski-Moir; Rebecca J. Rundell: Partula Programme Consortium and Belau Partulidae update. Tentacle 15: 19-20. 2007
[3] Justin Gerlach: Icons of Evolution: Pacific Island Tree-Snails of the Family Partulidae. Phelsuma Press 2016
[4] John Slapcinsky; Fred Kraus: Revision of Partulidae (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora) of Palau, with description of a new genus for an unusual ground-dwelling species. ZooKeys 614: 27-49. 2016
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edited: 18.10.2017