Category: Invertebrates

Achatinella apexfulva
The extinct tree snail Achatinella apexfulva (top) at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. The species epithet apexfulva means “yellow tip” and refers to the color of the shell. (© Naturalis Biodiversity Center, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Invertebrates

Yellow-tipped Oahu tree snail

Hawaii’s first scientifically described snail The yellow-tipped Oahu tree snail (Achatinella apexfulva) is not only the first scientifically described snail of the Hawaiian archipelago but also the first officially declared extinct. The species was first described in 1789 by British sailor and explorer George Dixon, who acquired a traditional necklace

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Megascolides australis gehört neben Rhinodrilus fafner (Brasilianischer Riesenregenwurm) zu den größten Würmern
Alongside Megascolides australis (image), Rhinodrilus fafner is among the longest earthworms. The drawing by Arthur Bartholomew comes from Frederick McCoy's work Natural History of Victoria (1885). Image: Arthur Bartholomew (1833–1903), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Invertebrates

Giant Brazilian Earthworm

More than two meters long On May 5, 1912, an extraordinary animal was discovered near the city of Belo Horizonte in Brazil: an earthworm more than two meters long. The species later described as Rhinodrilus fafner—also known as the giant Brazilian earthworm or Minhocuçu—reached a length of 210 centimeters, a

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milbenbefall
There is no photo of the passenger pigeon mite itself. The image shows mites using a dung beetle as a means of transport. (© Heiko Wagner, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Invertebrates

Passenger pigeon mite

Species extinctions trigger chain reactions When animal or plant species go extinct, a chain reaction is set in motion. Often, at least one other organism dies out along with it. Thus, with the passenger pigeon, the passenger pigeon mite also went extinct in 1914. In a study published in 2004,

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