''Partula'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of air-breathing tropical

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 ...

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 ...

s in the family

Partulidae Partulidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Partulidae Pilsbry, 1900. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http:// ...

.Myers, P.; Espinosa, R.; Parr, C. S.; Jones, T.; Hammond, G. S. & Dewey, T. A. (2006). The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed at http://animaldiversity.org.ITIS Standard Report Page: Partulidae
/ref> Many species of ''Partula'' are known under the general common names "

Polynesian tree snail Polynesian tree snail is a common name applied to a number of species of arboreal land snail.List froIUCN accessed 18 April, 2012 * ''Partula affinis'' * ''Partula arguta'' * ''Partula atilis'' * ''Partula aurantia'' * ''Partula auriculata'' * ' ...

" and " Moorean viviparous tree snail". Partulids are distributed across of

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

islands, from the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

. Once used as decorative items in Polynesian ceremonial wear and jewelry, these small snails (averaging about one-half to three-quarters of an inch in length) gained the attention of science when Dr.

Henry Crampton Henry Edward Crampton (January 5, 1875 – February 26, 1956) was an American evolutionary biologist and malacologist who specialized in land snails. Crampton undertook the first major study of evolution in nature in his research in the Society ...

(along with

Yoshio Kondo Yoshio Kondo (1910, on Maui, Hawaii - 1990, on Oahu, Hawaii) was an American biologist and malacologist. He spent virtually his entire life in Hawaii, with the exception of a number of collecting expeditions, primarily to islands in the Pacific O ...

) spent 50 years studying and cataloging partulids, detailing their remarkable array of morphological elements,

ecological niche In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...

s, and behavioral aspects that illustrate

adaptive radiation In evolutionary biology, adaptive radiation is a process in which organisms diversify rapidly from an ancestral species into a multitude of new forms, particularly when a change in the environment makes new resources available, alters biotic int ...

.Gerlach, J. (2016) Icons of Evolution - Pacific island tree snails, family Partulidae. Phelsuma Press, Cambridge
/ref>

Decline

The partulids of the island of

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

act as an example of the possible deleterious effects of attempted biological control. After an infestation of the introduced giant African land snails (''

Achatina ''Achatina'' is a genus of medium-sized to very large, air-breathing, tropical land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Achatinidae.Bouchet, P. (2014). Achatina Lamarck, 1799. Accessed through: World Register of Marine ...

'' spp.), the carnivorous Florida rosy wolfsnail (''

Euglandina rosea ''Euglandina rosea'', the rosy wolfsnail or cannibal snail, is a species of medium-sized to large predatory air-breathing land snail, a carnivorous terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Spiraxidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). Moll ...

'') was introduced into Tahiti in an attempt to combat the African species. The wolfsnail chose instead to hunt and eat members of the nearly 76 species of ''Partula'' that were endemic to Tahiti and the nearby islands, devouring all but 12 species in a decade. Several scientists recognized what was going on, and were able to save 12 species prior to their becoming

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. Today, the

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

runs the Partula Programme Consortium which maintains a captive-breeding programme in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. The 2008

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

contains 15 critically endangered, 11

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as known only by living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range due ...

, and 48 extinct ''Partula'' species.IUCN (2008). ''2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species''. . Downloaded on 23 December 2008. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species version 2009.2 contains 13 critically endangered, 11 extinct in the wild and 51 extinct ''Partula'' species.IUCN (2009). ''IUCN Red List of Threatened Species''. Version 2009.2. . Downloaded on 14 November 2009. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species version 2015-4 contains 83 ''Partula'' species.

Species

Species within the genus ''Partula'' include: * ''

Partula affinis ''Partula affinis'' is a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species is endemic to Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is ...

'' Pease, 1868 * ''

Partula arguta †''Partula arguta'' is a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species is Endemism, endemic to French Polynesia. It is critically endangere ...

'' † (Pease, 1866) * '' Partula assimilis'' Pease, 1868 * '' Partula atilis''† Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula auraniana'' Hartman, 1888 * '' Partula aurantia''† Crampton, 1932 * '' Partula auriculata''† Broderip, 1832 * '' Partula bilineata''† Pease, 1866 * ''

Partula clara ''Partula clara'' is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species is endemic to Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest ...

'' Pease, 1866 * '' Partula clarkei''† Gerlach, 2016 * '' Partula compressa'' Reeve, 1850 * '' Partula cootei''† Gerlach, 2016 * ''

Partula cramptoni Partula may refer to: * ''Partula'' (gastropod), a genus of snails of the family Partulidae *Partula, a Roman goddess of childbirth; see List of Roman birth and childhood deities In ancient Roman religion, birth and childhood deities were thoug ...

'' Clench, 1941 * '' Partula crassilabris''† Pease, 1866 * '' Partula cuneata'' † Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula cytherea''† C. M. Cooke & Crampton, 1930 * '' Partula dentifera''† L. Pfeiffer, 1853 * '' Partula desolata''† Bauman & Kerr, 2013 * '' Partula diminuta'' C. B. Adams, 1851 * '' Partula dolichostoma''† Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula dolorosa''† Crampton, 1956 * ''

Partula emersoni ''Partula emersoni'' is a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species is endemic to Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting o ...

'' Pilsbry, 1913 * '' Partula eremita''† Crampton & C. M. Cooke, 1953 * ''

Partula faba ''Partula faba'' (bean snail, Partula snail,
" Island Biodiversity. Accessed July 31, 20 ...

''† (Gmelin, 1791) * '' Partula filosa''† L. Pfeiffer, 1853 synonym of ''Partula diminuta'' C. B. Adams, 1851) * '' Partula flexuosa'' Hartman, 1885 * '' Partula formosa''† Garrett, 1884: synonym of ''Partula dentifera'' L. Pfeiffer, 1853 * '' Partula garretti''† Pease, 1865 * '' Partula gibba'' Férussac, 1821 * '' Partula grisea'' Lesson, 1831 * '' Partula guamensis''† (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) * '' Partula hebe'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) * '' Partula hyalina'' Broderip, 1832 * '' Partula incrassa'' Crampton, 1916 * '' Partula jackieburchi''† (Y. Kondo, 1981) * '' Partula labrusca''† Crampton & C. M. Cooke, 1953 * '' Partula laevigata'' L. Pfeiffer, 1857 * '' Partula lanceolata'' C. M. Cooke & Crampton, 1930 * '' Partula langfordi'' Y. Kondo, 1970 * '' Partula leefei'' E. A. Smith, 1897 * '' Partula leptochila''† Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula levistriata''† Crampton, 1956 * ''

Partula lugubris Partula may refer to: * ''Partula'' (gastropod), a genus of snails of the family Partulidae *Partula, a Roman goddess of childbirth; see List of Roman birth and childhood deities In ancient Roman religion, birth and childhood deities were thoug ...

'' Pease, 1865 * '' Partula lutaensis'' Sischo & Hadfield, 2021 * ''

Partula lutea †''Partula lutea'' was a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species was endemic to Bora Bora, French Polynesia. It is now extinct. This was a relatively unif ...

''† Lesson, 1831 * '' Partula magistri''† Gerlach, 2016 * '' Partula makatea''† Gerlach, 2016 * '' Partula martensiana'' Pilsbry, 1909: synonym of ''Partula rufa'' Lesson, 1831 * '' Partula meyeri'' J. B. Burch, 2007 * '' Partula micans'' L. Pfeiffer, 1853 * '' Partula mirabilis'' Crampton, 1924 * '' Partula mooreana'' Hartman, 1880 * '' Partula navigatoria'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1849) * '' Partula nodosa'' L. Pfeiffer, 1853 * '' Partula obesa'' Pease, 1868 * '' Partula otaheitana'' (Bruguière, 1792) * '' Partula pacifica'' L. Pfeiffer, 1855 * '' Partula pearcekellyi'' Gerlach, 2016 * '' Partula planilabrum''† Pease, 1864 * '' Partula producta''† Pease, 1864 * '' Partula protracta''† Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula pyramis'' Hartman, 1886 * '' Partula radiolata'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1846) * '' Partula radiosa'' (L. Pfeiffer, 1854) * '' Partula recluziana'' Petit de la Saussaye, 1850 * '' Partula remota''† Crampton, 1956 * '' Partula rosea'' Broderip, 1832 * '' Partula rustica''† Pease, 1866: synonym of ''Partula garrettii'' Pease, 1865 * '' Partula sagitta''† Crampton & C. M. Cooke, 1953 * '' Partula salifana''† Crampton, 1925 * ''

Partula similaris Partula may refer to: * ''Partula'' (gastropod), a genus of snails of the family Partulidae *Partula, a Roman goddess of childbirth; see List of Roman birth and childhood deities In ancient Roman religion, birth and childhood deities were thoug ...

'' Hartman, 1886 * '' Partula suturalis'' L. Pfeiffer, 1855 * '' Partula taeniata'' (Mörch, 1850) * '' Partula thalia''† Garrett, 1884: synonym of ''Partula garrettii'' Pease, 1865 * '' Partula tohiveana'' Crampton, 1924 * '' Partula tristis'' Crampton & C. M. Cooke, 1953 * ''

Partula turgida †''Partula turgida'' was a species of air-breathing tropical land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Partulidae. This species was endemic to Ra'iātea, French Polynesia. It died out in 1996, and is now extinct. ...

''† (Pease, 1865) * '' Partula umbilicata''† Pease, 1866 * '' Partula vanikorensis'' (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) * '' Partula varia'' Broderip, 1832

Cladogram

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

showing the phylogenic relationships of the genus ''Partula'':

Ecology

''Partula'' species on Tahiti were usually found on the undersides of the leaves of ''

Caladium ''Caladium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. They are often known by the common name elephant ear (which they share with the closely related genera ''Alocasia'', ''Colocasia'', and ''Xanthosoma''), heart of Jesus, and angel ...

'' and

plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

, although in some valleys, they were frequently found on '' Dracaena'' and

turmeric Turmeric () is a flowering plant, ''Curcuma longa'' (), of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, the rhizomes of which are used in cooking. The plant is a perennial, rhizomatous, herbaceous plant native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asi ...

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference. Mayer A. G. (January 1902). "Some species of ''Partula'' from Tahiti. A study in variation". ''Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy'
XXVI(2)
Cambridge, U.S.A.

External links