Archaeostylus (original) (raw)

Archaeostylus manukauensis is an extinct species of flax snail, a large air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc in the family Bothriembryontidae. This species is the typetaxon and only member of the monotypic genus Archaeostylus, found in Pliocene age sediments of northern New Zealand. Archaeostylus is thought to represent an extinct, sister lineage to the modern flax snail species currently living in New Zealand, and is not a direct ancestor.