Sinployea decorticata

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Sinployea decorticata
Sinployea decorticata shell.jpg
Drawing of the shell of Sinployea decorticata.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked):clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra

Contents

Superfamily: Punctoidea
Family: Charopidae
Subfamily: Charopinae
Genus: Sinployea
Species:S. decorticata
Binomial name
Sinployea decorticata
(Garrett, 1872) [2]
Synonyms
  • Pitys decorticata Garrett, 1872

Sinployea decorticata a species of small air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Charopidae. This species was endemic to the Cook Islands; it is now extinct.

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 sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

Land snail

A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to sea snails and freshwater snails. Land snail is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells. However, it is not always easy to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less amphibious between land and fresh water, and others are relatively amphibious between land and salt water.

Terrestrial animal animals living on land

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land, as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water, or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Terrestrial invertebrates include ants, flies, crickets, grasshoppers and spiders.

Shell description

Sinployea decorticata was originally discovered and described under the name Pitys decorticata by American naturalist Andrew Garrett in 1872. [2]

Andrew Garrett (1823–1887), was an American explorer, naturalist and illustrator.

Garrett's original text (the type description) reads as follows:

The width of the shell is 4 mm. The height of the shell is 2 mm. [2]

Type specimen are stored in the collection of Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. [2]

Distribution

Type locality is Rarotonga Island, Cook Islands. [2]

Rarotonga Island of the Cook Islands

Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 10,572, out of the country's total resident population of 14,974. Captain John Dibbs, master of the colonial brig Endeavour, is credited as the European discoverer on 25 July 1823, while transporting the missionary Rev. John Williams.

Cook Islands state in the South Pacific Ocean

The Cook Islands is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand. It comprises 15 islands whose total land area is 240 square kilometres (92.7 sq mi). The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers 1,800,000 square kilometres (690,000 sq mi) of ocean.

Habitat

Andrew Garrett commented on the habitat of this land snail, saying it was, "a common species found on the ground in a mountain ravine". [2]

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Camaenidae family of molluscs

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<i>Notodiscus hookeri</i> species of mollusc

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<i>Suteria ide</i> species of Gastropoda

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Ba humbugi is the only species and therefore the type species in the genus Ba, a genus of land snail, belonging to the family Charopidae. Both the genus and the species were named by the American malacologist Alan Solem. The genus is endemic to the Fijian island of Viti Levu, and B. humbugi is an endangered species.

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References

This article incorporates public domain text from reference. [2]

  1. Seddon M. B. & Solem A. (1996) Sinployea decorticata. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 7 August 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Garrett A. J. (1872) "Descriptions of new species of land and freshwater shells". American Journal of Conchology 7(4): 219-230. Pitys decorticata is on the page 228, plate 19, figure 19.

Further reading