Achatinella apexfulva

Achatinella apexfulva
Drawing of a shell of Achatinella apexfulva
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Achatinellidae
Genus:	Achatinella
Subgenus:	Achatinella
Species:	†A. apexfulva
Binomial name
†Achatinella apexfulva (Dixon, 1789)
Synonyms
List Achatinella lugubris Chemnitz Achatinella pica Swainson Achatinella vespertina Baldwin Achatinella apicata var. alba Sykes Achatinella apicata Newcomb Achatinella swiftii Newcomb Achatinella aptycha Pfeiffer Helix Avex Fulva Dixon Turbo apexfulva Dixon, 1798 (original combination?) Turbo lugubris Chemnitz Monodonta seminigra Lamarck Bulimus seminiger Mke Apex gulickii Smith Apex lilaceus Gulick

Achatinella apexfulva is an extinct species of colorful, tropical, arboreal pulmonate land snail in the family Achatinellidae, once present on Oahu, Hawaii. A. apexfulva is the type species of the genus Achatinella. The specific name, apexfulva, meaning "yellow-tipped", refers to the yellow tip of the snail's shell. Inspired from the taxon, the species has been given common names such as yellow-tipped Oʻahu tree snail or Hawaiian yellow-tipped tree snail. Officially, it is listed as ‘critically endangered’ by the IUCN, however, this is because its conservation status has not been updated in 28 years.

Taxonomy

The family Achatinellidae, to which Achatinella apexfulva belongs, represents a diverse adaptive radiation. All species of tree-snail in Hawaii are believed to have come from a single ancestral snail. How that ancestral snail made the 3,800 kilometres (2,400 mi) trip across the ocean is unknown. A longstanding theory is that a bird carried a notably smaller ancestor across the ocean and dropped it on the islands, as bird mediated dispersal has been documented in other snail species. Alternative theories include that it floated across the ocean on a mat of debris, or that it island-hopped across the Pacific in a combination of the theories. Within the Achatinellidae, A. apexfulva belongs to the Oahu clade, which evolved on Oahu island and includes most other members of the genus Achatinella.

Distribution

This species was endemic to forests of the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian archipelago, United States, but is now extinct. It was listed as federally endangered since 1981. A major cause of its population decline in the wild was predation by the rosy wolfsnail. The rosy wolfsnail, a central-American native, was introduced to Hawaii in the 1950s to control agricultural pests. However, as a carnivore of other snails it does not discriminate in its choice of food and has been the cause of at least eight other snail extinctions in Hawaii.

Other causes of the snail's decline included loss of habitat due to deforestation, introduction of rats, and the introduction of Jackson's chameleon. The problems that A. apexfulva faced are not unique: estimated extinction rates in the family Achatinellidae range between 75% and 90%. The International Union for Conservation of Nature's last study on A. apexfulva was conducted in 1996 and listed the species as Critically Endangered.

George

Main article: George (snail)

In 1997, in response to rapidly dwindling populations, all known remaining specimens of A. apexfulva were collected and bred in captivity. Most offspring died of unknown causes, but one successful offspring was born. This individual was named George, after Lonesome George, a Pinta Island tortoise from the Galapagos Islands who was also the last of his kind. By April 2011, George was the only remaining member of the species. In January 2019, George died at age 14 – leaving the species reportedly extinct.

Ecology

While A. apexfulva lived on the leaves of trees, it was not herbivorous. Its diet consisted of algae and mold that it ate off leaves.