''Amphibulima browni'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

, a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family

Amphibulimidae Amphibulimidae is a taxonomic family of land snails, semi-slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Orthalicoidea.Breure A. S. H. & Romero P. (2012). "Support and surprises: molecular phylogeny of the land snail superfami ...

. This rare tropical land snail is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

island of

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

. The snail has been seen only very rarely since it was first discovered in the late 19th century, and it may eventually be listed as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

. The

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

of this snail is oblong and thin, but not fragile, and it has a large

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

Distribution

''Amphibulima browni'' is endemic to the West Indian island of

. The type locality is Dominica, the altitude 330 m, "on bananas". The status of this species, which is one of three species of ''Amphibulima'' on Dominica, has been somewhat doubtful for a long period, since this taxon has not been reported since its original description. The collection of a few live specimens during the recent surveys in the 2000s confirmed its presence, and although it appears rare, it seems to be less restricted in distribution than ''

Amphibulima pardalina ''Amphibulima pardalina'' is a species of tropical air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Amphibulimidae. Distribution ''Amphibulima pardalina'' is endemic to Dominica. The type locality is Mount Kuliabon and ...

''. ''Amphibulima browni'' is likely to meet the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

-criteria for listing as

Endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

Description

''Amphibulima browni'' was firstly collected by biologist A. D. Brown and it was originally described by an American malacologist

Henry Augustus Pilsbry Henry Augustus Pilsbry (7 December 1862 – 26 October 1957) was an American biologist, malacologist and carcinologist, among other areas of study. He was a dominant presence in many fields of invertebrate taxonomy for the better part of a centu ...

in 1899.

The

is oblong, thin, but not elastic or fragile, corneous-olivaceous, with numerous irregularly scattered reddish dots. The surface is somewhat wrinkled with growth-striae and showing numerous very low but coarse irregular spirals. The shell has 2½

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex ...

is decidedly raised. The suture of the last half whorl is rapidly descending. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is rather slender and its length contained from 4½ to 4¾ times in that of the shell. The

is large, irregularly oblong. The outer lip is somewhat blunt, strongly arcuate above, retracted or waved backward at the position of the slight "shoulder" and somewhat effuse below. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

is arcuate and thin. The height of the shell is from 18.5 to 19 mm. The width of the shell is from 10 to 10.5 mm. The height of the aperture is 14.7–15 mm. The height of the spire is 3.8-4.3 mm.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference and CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference.Robinson D. G., Hovestadt A., Fields A. & Breure A. S. H. (July 2009). "The land Mollusca of Dominica (Lesser Antilles), with notes on some enigmatic or rare species". ''Zoologische Mededelingen'' 83 http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/83/nr03/a13

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4748214 Amphibulimidae Endemic fauna of Dominica Gastropods described in 1899