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{{Short description|Species of gastropod}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Discus macclintocki.jpg
| status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=Frest, T. |year=2017 |amends=2004 |title=''Discus macclintocki'' |volume=2017 |page=e.T6736A116822773 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T6736A116822773.en |access-date=30 May 2024}}</ref>
|status2 = LE
|status2_system = ESA
|genus = Discus
|species = macclintocki
|authority = (F. C. Baker, 1928)
}}
[[File:Pleistocene Snail Distribution.PNG|thumb|Distribution of Iowa Pleistocene Snail (''Discus macclintocki'')]]

'''''Discus macclintocki''''' is a species of [[land snail]] in the family [[Discidae]] known commonly as the '''Iowa Pleistocene snail''' and '''Pleistocene disc'''.<ref name=IUCN/><ref>[http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Discus+macclintocki ''Discus macclintocki''.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606155247/http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Discus+macclintocki |date=2007-06-06 }} NatureServe. 2013.</ref> It occurs in [[Iowa]] and [[Illinois]] in the [[United States]].<ref name=IUCN/> It is a federally listed [[endangered species]].<ref name=fws>[http://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/Snails/iops_fct.html Iowa Pleistocene Snail (''Discus macclintocki'').] Endangered Species. USFWS Midwest Region. 2013.</ref>

==Biology==
This snail is limited to patches of [[algific talus slope]] habitat. It is a [[glacial relict|relict]] species from the last [[Quaternary glaciation|ice age]]. Much of its remaining habitat is located on the [[Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge]] in Iowa. Known from fossil evidence about 400,000 years old, it is one of many glacial relict species that remain in the [[Driftless Area]], a [[glacier]]-eroded plateau that now makes up parts of Iowa, Illinois, [[Minnesota]], and [[Wisconsin]]. Much of the area was covered by glaciers about 500,000 years ago, while parts of the Driftless Area were unglaciated.

The algific talus slope habitat that harbors the snail is a landscape cooled by air and water emerging from masses of subterranean ice. The ground temperature rarely exceeds {{cvt|50|F|C|disp=flip}}, even in summer. Here the snail feeds on [[plant litter|leaf litter]] from trees (mainly birch, maple and dogwood) and shrubs. During the winter, it burrows underground and becomes dormant. It breeds from March to August, laying two to six eggs in the litter. Juveniles emerge in about 28 days. The life span of the snail is 5 to 7 years.<ref name=fws/> The adult is about 5–8 millimeters wide,<ref name=nwr>[http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Driftless_Area/wildlife_and_habitat/index.html Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge: Wildlife & Habitat.] USFWS.</ref> with a brownish or greenish shell.<ref name=fws/>

==Conservation status==
The Iowa Pleistocene snail was thought to be extinct until it was discovered in 1955 by a scientist working in northeastern Iowa. It was listed as endangered by the United States in 1978. The main cause of the snail's decline is [[climate change]], as it is restricted to patches of cold habitat in warmer surroundings. The snail is considered to be a relic of the ice age. About 75% of this snail’s original habitat has been destroyed since 1850.<ref>{{cite book|last=Harley|first=Stephen A. |author2=Miller, John P.|title=Zoology 5th edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=Dubuque, IA|page=60|edition=8th}}</ref> Other causes include [[loss of habitat]] to [[logging]], [[quarry]]ing, [[livestock]], [[pesticide]]s, the construction of roads,<ref name=fws/> and predation by [[shrew]]s.<ref>[http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wildlife/recoprog/states/species/discmacc.htm ''Discus macclintocki''.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211181022/http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/wildlife/recoprog/states/species/discmacc.htm |date=December 11, 2013 }} Status of Listed Species and Recovery Plan Development. USGS.</ref>

The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] assessed the snail as a [[Least Concern|species of least concern]] for the [[IUCN Red List|Red List]], because its populations are apparently stable and none were lost in the decade prior to the assessment.<ref name=IUCN/>

==Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge==
The {{convert|775|acre|km2|adj=on}} Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1989 to protect native flora and fauna, including endangered and [[threatened species]] such as the Iowa Pleistocene snail.<ref name=nwr/> The refuge conserves the algific talus slope habitat and other local habitat such as cold, moist [[sinkhole]]s.<ref name=nwr/>

Other glacial relict snails occur on the refuge, including the [[Vertigo hubrichti|Midwest Pleistocene vertigo]] (''Vertigo hubrichti'').<ref name=nwr/>

Rare plants include the [[Aconitum noveboracense|northern blue monkshood]] (''Aconitum noveboracense''), which thrives in the same cool talus habitat as the snail.<ref name=nwr/>

== References ==
{{Commons category|Discus macclintocki}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=G00T Iowa Pleistocene snail (''Discus macclintocki'').] Environmental Conservation Online System. USFWS.

==Further reading==
*Clark, W. R., et al. (2008). [http://www.fws.gov/bmt/documents/amid-160-01-129-139-l.pdf Demographic processes influencing population viability of the Iowa Pleistocene snail (''Discus macclintocki'').] ''The American Midland Naturalist'' 160(1), 129–39.
*Henry, C. (2003). [https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=endangeredspeciesbull Refuge for an Ice Age Survivor.] ''Endangered Species Bulletin'' 28(1), 24–26.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q4754}}

[[Category:Discidae]]
[[Category:Gastropods of North America]]
[[Category:Endemic molluscs of the United States]]
[[Category:Endangered fauna of the United States]]
[[Category:Natural history of Iowa]]
[[Category:Natural history of Illinois]]
[[Category:Gastropods described in 1928]]
[[Category:ESA endangered species]]

Discus macclintocki - Revision history

imported>Micromesistius: ± 2 categories using HotCat