The Corner

Seychelles Snail—One of Global Warming’s First Victims—Found Alive and Well

Those advocating speedy solutions to the threat of global warming might take a hint from a recent discovery . . . and slow down. Via the Associated Press:

The Aldabra banded snail, declared extinct seven years ago, was rediscovered on Aug. 23 in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles. The mollusk, which is endemic to the Aldabra coral atoll — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — had not been seen on the islands since 1997, said the Seychelles Islands Foundation. . . .

A research team from the Seychelles Islands Foundation found seven of the purple-and-pink striped snails on Aldabra atoll’s Malabar Island

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 Aldabra banded snail, in all its glory:

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