New species of Canariella (Gastropoda: Hygromiidae) from the Pliocene of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

The genus Canariella is endemic to the Canary Islands. Curiously, it was never found on the central island of Gran Canaria but on all other islands to the east (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) and west (Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro). This zoogeographic paradox can now be solved. Here we report on the discovery of a Pliocene gastropod fauna on Gran Canaria that yielded remains of four previously undescribed species of Canariella. Species of this genus once inhabited all islands of the archipelago but vanished from Gran Canaria presumably at the end of the Pliocene.