NAIROBI, Kenya – The Seychelles Islands Foundation says a snail previously thought to be extinct has been rediscovered “alive and well” at the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean island nation of Seychelles.
The conservation group said in a statement seen Monday that before the Aug. 23 discovery, the last living individual of the Aldabra banded snail – which is endemic to Aldabra – was recorded in 1997.
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The group said two mollusk experts confirmed the discovery of several young purple and pink snails.
The snail’s apparent demise was linked to declining rainfall on Aldabra, and was widely considered to be one of the first species whose extinction could be directly tied to global warming.
The species was declared extinct in 2007.
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