''Paralaoma turbotti'' 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 land

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

in the family

Punctidae Punctidae, common name the "dot snails" or "pinhead snails", is a family of minute air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the informal group Sigmurethra (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropo ...

. The species was first described by

Baden Powell Baden-Powell () is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Baden-Powell * The Rev. Prof. Baden Powell (mathematician) (1796–1860), mathematician, clergyman and liberal theologian. By his first marriage father of: :* Baden Henry Powell ...

in 1948, and is endemic to

Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands The Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands (sometimes just known collectively by the Māori name for the largest island, Manawatāwhi) are a group of 13 uninhabited islands about northwest of Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua, New Zealand, where th ...

in New Zealand.

Taxonomy

The species was identified by Powell in 1948, based on a shell collected from Manawatāwhi / Great Island in 1945 by

Graham Turbott Evan Graham Turbott (27 May 1914 – 12 December 2014) was a New Zealand ornithologist, zoologist, and museum administrator. He served as director of the Auckland Institute and Museum from 1964 to 1979. Early life and family Born at Stanley ...

, who discovered the shell on the underside of decaying wood in leaf mold, in an area of kanuka scrub. Powell named the species after Turbott. In 1999, specimens that had previously been identified as ''P. turbotti'' by

Frank Climo Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

in 1973 were described two new species, ''

Paralaoma manawatawhia ''Paralaoma'' is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the subfamily Laominae of the family Punctidae, the dot snails. Species The genus ''Paralaoma'' includes the follow ...

'' and ''

Paralaoma raki ''Paralaoma'' is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the subfamily Laominae of the family Punctidae, the dot snails. Species The genus ''Paralaoma'' includes the follow ...

''. These species share a habitat and have overlapping distributions, suggesting that

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

sea level changes may have fragmented populations of ''Paralaoma'', leading to speciation.

Description

Powell's original text (the

type description A species description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have be ...

) reads as follows: The shell of the species is morphologically very similar to ''

Paralaoma buddlei ''Paralaoma'' is a genus of very small air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the subfamily Laominae of the family Punctidae, the dot snails. Species The genus ''Paralaoma'' includes the fol ...

'', however is much smaller compared to ''P. buddlei''. They can be distinguished from ''P. manawatawhia'' due to the shells of this species being brown, bigger and having heavier ribbing.

Distribution and habitat

The species is endemic to New Zealand, found on islands of the

group: Manawatāwhi / Great Island and Moekawa / South West Island. The snail lives primarily in broaflead forest and kanuka leaf litter.

References

{{Authority control Punctidae Gastropods described in 1948 Gastropods of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic molluscs of New Zealand Taxa named by Arthur William Baden Powell Fauna of Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands