Post by admin on Sept 14, 2014 9:57:32 GMT 8
‘Extinct’ Seychelles snail found alive
AP
September 10, 2014
Photo caption: SEYCHELLES SNAIL REDISCOVERED (AP) — In this photo taken Aug. 23, 2014 and provided by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), an adult Aldabra banded snail (Rhachistia aldabrae) is examined at the discovery site in dense mixed scrub forest on the coastal fringe of Malabar island, Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. SIF says the Aldabra banded snail, previously thought to be extinct, has been rediscovered ‘alive and well’ at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles.
Nairobi, Kenya – A snail once thought to have been among the first species to go extinct because of climate change has reappeared in the wild.
The Aldabra banded snail, declared extinct seven years ago, was rediscovered late August in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles. The mollusk, which is endemic to the Aldabra coral atoll — a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site — had not been seen on the islands since 1997, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) said.
A research team from SIF found seven of the purple-and-pink striped snails on Aldabra atoll’s Malabar Island last week. Shane Brice, a junior skipper on the voyage, made the initial discovery.
“I was so surprised; no one (in the expedition) had ever seen the snail before,” Brice said. “It’s quite amazing.”
Mollusk experts Vincent Florens and Pat Matyot confirmed the discovery after analyzing the team’s photos. Florens, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Mauritius, told The Associated Press the Aldabra banded snail was ‘the only possible identification,” citing the snail’s distinctive shell pattern and locality.
The snail faces many pressures in Aldabra atoll. The coral islands grew atop an extinct volcano in the Indian Ocean. The isolated atoll, which also is home to the largest population of giant tortoises in the world, provides opportunities to study evolution and biodiversity. Conservationists are unsure how a terrestrial snail like the Aldabra banded snail initially reached these hot, dry islands surrounded by saltwater without drying out.
The snail’s apparent demise was linked to declining rainfall on Aldabra, and was widely considered to be among the first species whose extinction could be directly tied to global warming, said biologist Justin Gerlach, a scientific coordinator for the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles.
The once-plentiful snail’s population declined exponentially between 1970 and 1990, and the last juvenile snail was found in 1976.
Source: www.mb.com.ph/extinct-seychelles-snail-found-alive/
AP
September 10, 2014
Photo caption: SEYCHELLES SNAIL REDISCOVERED (AP) — In this photo taken Aug. 23, 2014 and provided by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), an adult Aldabra banded snail (Rhachistia aldabrae) is examined at the discovery site in dense mixed scrub forest on the coastal fringe of Malabar island, Aldabra Atoll, Seychelles. SIF says the Aldabra banded snail, previously thought to be extinct, has been rediscovered ‘alive and well’ at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles.
Nairobi, Kenya – A snail once thought to have been among the first species to go extinct because of climate change has reappeared in the wild.
The Aldabra banded snail, declared extinct seven years ago, was rediscovered late August in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles. The mollusk, which is endemic to the Aldabra coral atoll — a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site — had not been seen on the islands since 1997, the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) said.
A research team from SIF found seven of the purple-and-pink striped snails on Aldabra atoll’s Malabar Island last week. Shane Brice, a junior skipper on the voyage, made the initial discovery.
“I was so surprised; no one (in the expedition) had ever seen the snail before,” Brice said. “It’s quite amazing.”
Mollusk experts Vincent Florens and Pat Matyot confirmed the discovery after analyzing the team’s photos. Florens, an associate professor of ecology at the University of Mauritius, told The Associated Press the Aldabra banded snail was ‘the only possible identification,” citing the snail’s distinctive shell pattern and locality.
The snail faces many pressures in Aldabra atoll. The coral islands grew atop an extinct volcano in the Indian Ocean. The isolated atoll, which also is home to the largest population of giant tortoises in the world, provides opportunities to study evolution and biodiversity. Conservationists are unsure how a terrestrial snail like the Aldabra banded snail initially reached these hot, dry islands surrounded by saltwater without drying out.
The snail’s apparent demise was linked to declining rainfall on Aldabra, and was widely considered to be among the first species whose extinction could be directly tied to global warming, said biologist Justin Gerlach, a scientific coordinator for the Nature Protection Trust of Seychelles.
The once-plentiful snail’s population declined exponentially between 1970 and 1990, and the last juvenile snail was found in 1976.
Source: www.mb.com.ph/extinct-seychelles-snail-found-alive/