# Partula turgida

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{{Short description|Species of gastropod}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}
{{Cleanup|reason=Most of the facts here apply to [Partula clarkei](/source/Partula_clarkei) instead, due to misidentification|date=December 2025}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Partula turgida national museum of scotland 2016.JPG
| image_caption = Shell of a ''Partula turgida'' at the [National Museum of Scotland](/source/National_Museum_of_Scotland)
| status = EX
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 15 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Coote, T. |date=2009 |title=''Partula turgida'' |volume=2009 |article-number=e.T16331A5603037 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T16331A5603037.en |access-date=15 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Partula
| species = turgida
| authority = ([Pease](/source/William_Harper_Pease), 1865)
| synonyms = 
}}

'''''Partula turgida''''', also known as the '''Raiatean thin-shelled partula''',<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Gerlach |first=Justin |date=4 September 2017 |title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Partula turgida |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/16331/119135957 |journal=[IUCN Red List of Threatened Species](/source/IUCN_Red_List_of_Threatened_Species) |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250429225928/https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/16331/119135957 |archive-date=29 April 2025}}</ref> is an extinct [species](/source/species) of air-breathing [tropical](/source/tropical) [land snail](/source/land_snail), a [terrestrial](/source/terrestrial_molluscs) [pulmonate](/source/pulmonate) [gastropod](/source/gastropod) [mollusk](/source/mollusk) in the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Partulidae](/source/Partulidae). This species was [endemic](/source/Endemism) to [Ra'iātea](/source/Ra'i%C4%81tea), French Polynesia.{{Cn|date=December 2025}} It is now [extinct](/source/extinct).

''[Partula clarkei](/source/Partula_clarkei)'', misidentified as this species, was being kept alive in captivity,{{Cn|date=December 2025}} when the population suffered a crash caused by the [microsporidia](/source/microsporidia)n genus ''[Steinhausia](/source/Steinhausia)''. This is the first definitive report of an extinction of a species caused by a parasite.

The genus ''[Partula](/source/Partula_(gastropod))'' was presumed to have been established around 1.5 million BC.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nevin |first=Charles |date=4 February 1996 |title=Farewell, Turgi ... safe seats update ... lunching by numbers |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/farewell-turgi-safe-seats-update-lunching-by-numbers-1317240.html |access-date=25 December 2025 |website=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent) |language=en}}</ref> 

==Description==
As with other ''[Partula](/source/Partula_(gastropod))'' species, ''P. turgida'' measured under two centimeters. It was stated to cover less than two feet of distance annually. ''P. turgida'' consumed algae found on tree leaves, as well as dead vegetation.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Lydia |first=Pyne |title=Endlings: Fables for the Anthropocene |publisher=[University of Minnesota Press](/source/University_of_Minnesota_Press) |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-5179-1483-7}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
''Partula turgida'' was endemic to Ra'iātea, French Polynesia.<ref name=":4" />

==Extinction==
''Partula turgida'' began significantly decreasing at the beginning of the 20th century, partially due to habitat loss, but more significantly due to the introduction of African giant land snails (''[Lissachatina fulica](/source/Lissachatina_fulica)'').<ref name=":3" /> Foreigners brought the African giant land snails to the region as "foodstuffs" in 1967,<ref name=":3" /> though some sources claim they were also used as "garden ornaments".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=1 February 1996 |title=SCIENCE FILE / An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment : World's Last Polynesian Tree Snail Dies at London Zoo |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-01-me-31118-story.html |access-date=25 December 2025 |website=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |language=en-US}}</ref> Shortly after their introduction, the African giant land snails began decimating the native ''Partula turgida'' population. In the 1970s, conservationists imported the rosy wolf snail (''[Euglandina rosea](/source/Euglandina_rosea)'') to reduce the African giant land snail's population.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Erin |date=13 December 2025 |title=8 Animals That Recently Went Extinct |url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/science/extinction/recently-extinct-animals |access-date=25 December 2025 |website=[Mental Floss](/source/Mental_Floss) |language=en-US}}</ref> However, the rosy wolf snail preferred ''Partula'' species over the African giant land snails, causing the extinction of 27 tree snail species within a decade of its introduction.<ref name=":3" /> 

As an additional conservation effort, a [captive breeding program](/source/captive_breeding_program) was initiated at the [London Zoo](/source/London_Zoo) in the early 1990s,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macknight |first=Lauren |date=22 March 2023 |title=The End of the Line: "Endlings" and what their stories tell us about the planet, its inhabitants, and ourselves |url=https://lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2023/03/the-end-of-the-line-endlings-and-what-their-stories-tell-us-about-the-planet-its-inhabitants-and-ourselves/ |access-date=25 December 2025 |website=Life & Letters |publisher=[The University of Texas at Austin](/source/The_University_of_Texas_at_Austin)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Taehwan |last2=Meyer |first2=Jean-Yves |last3=Burch |first3=John B. |last4=Pearce-Kelly |first4=Paul |last5=Foighil |first5=Diarmaid Ó |date=October 2008 |title=Not completely lost: two partulid tree snail species persist on the highest peak of Raiatea, French Polynesia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/not-completely-lost-two-partulid-tree-snail-species-persist-on-the-highest-peak-of-raiatea-french-polynesia/E9D05A1E3BC746ECC62C7F504181B75D |journal=Oryx |language=en |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=615–619 |doi=10.1017/S0030605308001427 |issn=1365-3008}}</ref> including 296 ''P. turgida''. Within a few years however, many of the captured specimens had died, with the ''P. turgida'' population dropping under 10. Post-mortem analyses of the snails indicated they had been infected by fungi likely belonging to the [microsporidia](/source/microsporidia)n genus ''Steinhausia.'' Because species of this genus typically infect aquatic snails, researchers believed the snail deaths may have been caused by a new species.''<ref name=":3" />''<ref name=":4" /> 

The last known ''Partula turgida'', Turgi, died 31 January 1996 at the [London Zoo](/source/London_Zoo). After Turgi's death, the zoo erected a tombstone stating, "1.5 million years BC to January 1996" to mark the species' extinction.<ref name=":0" /> Turgi was named in the 2022 children's book ''The Late, Great Endlings: Stories of the Last Survivors'', written by Deborah Kerbel and illustrated by Aimee van Drimmelen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jorgensen |first=Krista |date=Winter 2022–2023 |title=The Late, Great Endlings: Stories of the Last Survivors |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/1ebe1794fbdce4448bcd61fd67bd3d4d/1 |journal=Canadian Children's Book News |location=Toronto |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=37–38 |via=ProQuest}}</ref>

''Partula turgida''{{'}}s population decrease and eventual extinction was closely watched and documented.<ref name=":0" /> It also marked the first known instance of a parasite causing a species' extinction.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{cite journal |author=Cunningham A. A. |author2=Daszak P. |name-list-style=amp |year=1998 |title=Extinction of a Species of Land Snail Due to Infection with a Microsporidian Parasite |journal=[Conservation Biology](/source/Conservation_Biology_(journal)) |volume=12 |pages=1139–1141 |bibcode=1998ConBi..12.1139C |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1998.97485.x |jstor=2387588 |s2cid=85093320 |number=5}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Partula species}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q309512}}

turgida
Category:Extinct gastropods
Category:Taxa named by William Harper Pease
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
Category:Gastropods described in 1864

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Partula turgida](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partula_turgida) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partula_turgida?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.