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Type specimens of Novisuccinea chittenangoensis

The Chittenango ovate amber snail, scientific name Novisuccinea chittenangoensis, is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the family Succineidae, the amber snails. This species is endemic to a very restricted part of the Chittenango area in Madison County, New York, United States. The one extant population is at Chittenango Falls State Park in central New York. It was discovered in 1905.

The only verified extant colony of Novisuccinea chittenangoensis is the type-population at Chittenango Falls, in Chittenango Falls State Park, 3.6 miles north of Cazenovia, between the Towns of Cazenovia and Chittenango, in Madison County, New York. At various times in the past, the species has been thought to have a broader range. To date, although many potentially suitable colony sites have been searched, no colony has been conclusively identified as Novisuccinea chittenangoensis outside of the Chittenango Falls area. The snails survives in and presumably prefer, cool, partially sunlit areas of lush herbaceous growth within the spray zone of the Falls. (Read more...)