United States

Tiny Snail Species Unique to Georgia Declared Extinct

The snail was discovered in the 1970s and lived in a handful of creeks and streams near Lake Blackshear in southwest Georgia

A tiny snail believed to have lived only in Georgia has been declared extinct.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its findings on the Beaverpond marstonia last month, declaring its belief that the tiny snail had gone extinct, WABE-FM reports.

The snail was discovered in the 1970s and lived in a handful of creeks and streams near Lake Blackshear in southwest Georgia.

A senior aquatic biologist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Jason Wisniewski, says the tan snail was a few millimeters long, "not much bigger than a few grains of salt."

The snail hadn't been documented since 2000. The species was part of a 2016 lawsuit against U.S. Fish and Wildlife intended to procure federal protections.

Wisniewski says snail's extinction could indicate larger issues in the environment.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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