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