The remote Hawaiian island is home to the last land-based snails of its kind

First recorded in 1923, the species Endodonta christenseniUntil now, it had no scientific name and description.

It is probably the last remaining species in the genus Endodonta.The remaining 11 species have been collected and described for more than 100 yearsA team of researchers from the Bishop Museum and the Museum of Natural History of Florida found the snail while surveying more than 1,000 sites in the Hawaiian Islands.

The pea-sized snails on a remote Hawaiian island are probably the last of their kind.The recently described species, Endodonta christenseni, is the only known member of its genus to escape extinction.Credit: David Cicho

Scientists warn that without protection, the newly discovered species could become extinct within 10 years. 

Researchers have discovered Endodonta christenseni on the uninhabited Hawaiian island of Nihoa. Credit: David Sisho.

In the last 400 years, more land snails have gone extinct in the Pacific Islands than any other group of animals.Their decline is due to habitat destruction, aggressive predators, and climate change.While Hawaii has lost more than half of its land snail species (there were once more than 750 species), researchers have recorded about 300 species thought to have long since disappeared, includingE. christenseni.

“The results of this extensive study give us hope that there are still many species that can be saved,” concludes Noreen Yung, co-director of the study.

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