Drymaeus papyraceus

Drymaeus papyraceus
A live specimen of Drymaeus papyraceus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Order:	Stylommatophora
Family:	Bulimulidae
Genus:	Drymaeus
Species:	D. papyraceus
Binomial name
Drymaeus papyraceus (Mawe, 1823)
Synonyms [1]
Bulimulus papyraceus(Mawe, 1823) Bulimulus papyraceus var. latiorStrebel, 1882 Bulimus lita(Quoy & Gaimard, 1825) Drymaeus (Drymaeus) papyraceus(Mawe, 1823) Drymaeus papyraceus var. papyrifactusPilsbry, 1898 Helix litaQuoy & Gaimard, 1825 Helix papyraceaMawe, 1823 (basionym) [2] Otostomus (Mormus) papyraceus(Mawe, 1823)

Drymaeus papyraceus, commonly known as the fragile snail, is a species of tropical air-breathing land snail, a pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bulimulidae native to parts of South America. ^[1]

Taxonomy and nomenclature

The species was first described in 1823 by British zoologist and mineralogist John Mawe, who originally named it Helix papyracea and referred to it by the common name "fragile snail." ^[2] Today, it is classified within the genus Drymaeus, which includes a wide variety of Neotropical land snails. ^[3]

Conservation status

While the fragile snail has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN, deforestation in Brazil's Atlantic Forest has reduced its habitat by ca. 84–88% ^[4] since it was described in the 19th Century.

References

1. "Drymaeus papyraceus (Mawe, 1823)". MolluscaBase. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
2. John, Mawe (1823). The Linnæan system of conchology : describing the orders, genera, and species of shells arranged into divisions and families : with a view to facilitate the student's attainment of the science. London: Printed for and sold by the author, and Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
3. Rosa, Rafael M.; Salvador, Rodrigo B.; Cavallari, Daniel C. (2025). "The disappearing act of the magician tree snail: anatomy, distribution, and phylogenetic relationships of Drymaeus magus (Gastropoda: Bulimulidae), a long-lost species hidden in plain sight". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society . 203 (3): zlaf017. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaf017.
4. Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; Metzger, Jean Paul; Martensen, Alexandre Camargo; Ponzoni, Flávio Jorge; Hirota, Márcia Makiko (June 2009). "The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: How much is left, and how is the remaining forest distributed? Implications for conservation". Biological Conservation. 142 (6): 1141–1153. Bibcode:2009BCons.142.1141R. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.02.021.