Papillifera papillaris | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Clausiliidae |
Genus: | Papillifera |
Species: | P. papillaris
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Binomial name | |
Papillifera papillaris | |
Synonyms | |
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Papillifera papillaris, also known as Papillifera bidens, is a species of small, air-breathing land snail with a clausilium, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails. This is a Mediterranean species.
In Britain this species is now sometimes called the "Cliveden snail", as in 2004 a very small colony was found to have been living on the estate at Cliveden House, a large stately home in Buckinghamshire, England. Individuals of the species had been living on an Italian balustrade which was imported to Britain in the late 19th century, and have survived at the estate for over a century before they were discovered there. Other introduced populations of P. papillaris can be found across South East England.
There is a complicated nomenclatural problem with the name of this species. Some argued that the name should be Papillifera bidens. See further discussion under "Nomenclature".