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Nouveaux gastéropodes Endodontidae et Punctidae (Mollusca, Pulmonata) récemment éteints de l'archipel des Gambier (Polynésie)

Ahmed ABDOU & Philippe BOUCHET

fr Zoosystema 22 (4) - Pages 689-707

Published on 29 December 2000

New species of recently extinct land snails of the families Endodontidae and Punctidae (Mollusca, Pulmonata) from the Gambier archipelago (Polynesia)

Based on the material collected by the Mangarevan Expedition in 1934, the endodontid fauna of the Gambier Islands, eastern Polynesia, was known to consist of four genera (three endemic) and 24 species (all endemic). New material collected in 1997 adds six new species : Minidonta perminima, M. flammulina, M. vallonia, Anceyodonta gatavakensis, A. umbilicata and Rikitea tapinoptyx, confirming it as the most diverse endodontid radiation in Polynesia. None of them has been collected alive since the 19 th century, despite intensive focused field work, and the 30 endemic species are all considered extinct. A new species of Punctum, P. mokotoense, described from an empty but fresh specimen collected in the last remaining patch of native forest on Mangareva, is presumed to be still existant.


Keywords:

Endemism, island radiation, extinction, Polynesia, new species, land snails.

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