Rediscovery of living land snails on Trindade Island, Brazil

Author(s)

Salvador, Rodrigo B. ^{[1, 2]} ; Silva, Nilber G. ^[3] ; Cunha, Carlo M. ^[4] ; Simone, Luiz R. L. ^[4] ; Alves, Ruy J. V. ^[3]

Affiliation

^[1] Staatliches Museum Nat Stuttgart, Stuttgart - Germany

^[2] Univ Tubingen, Math Nat Wissensch Fak, Tubingen - Germany

^[3] Univ Fed Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacl, Rio De Janeiro - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: AMERICAN MALACOLOGICAL BULLETIN; v. 32, n. 1, p. 140-142, FEB 2014.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

For four decades it has been suspected that the endemic land snails of Trindade Island, Brazil, were extinct. Here we report finding live Succinea lopesi Lanzieri, 1966 and a species of Happia Bourguignat, 1889 on top of the island's highest peaks. Happia is a new record for the island and possibly also a new endemic species. As Trindade's environment has suffered much degradation due to introduced feral goats, such remote places might have acted as refuges for the snails. With the ongoing recovery of the native flora after the eradication of the goats, the snails' populations might re-establish themselves. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/11253-9 - Phylogenetic analyses of Aplysiomorpha (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia), based on comparative morphology and systematics review of the Brazilian species
• Grantee: Carlo Magenta Cunha
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral