Staffordia staffordi is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of air-breathing land snail

Land snail

A land snail is any of the many species of snail that live on land, as opposed to those that live in salt water and fresh water. Land snails are terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells, It is not always an easy matter to say which species are terrestrial, because some are more or less...

, terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Staffordiidae

Staffordiidae

Staffordiidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Staffordioidea ....

.

The specific name staffordi as well as generic name Staffordia is in honor of Brigadier-General Stafford

Stafford (disambiguation)

-Other places in England:* Stafford * West Stafford, in Dorset-United States:*Stafford, California **Stafford, Humboldt County, California...

, who was in command of the punitive force which entered the Dafla Hills for the first time in the winter of 1874-1875.

Distribution

The type locality of this species is Toruputu Peak, Dafla Hills, 7000 feet (2,133.6 m), in India.

Description

The shell

Gastropod shell

The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...

 is moderately solid, with a thick epidermis, very globosely conoid, rounded below. The umbilicus almost hidden. The sculpture

Sculpture (mollusc)

The sculpture of a mollusc shell is the three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface, as distinct from the basic shape of the shell itself or colouration. Sculpture may be concave as well as convex. Sometimes it has microscopic detail. Sculpture refers to the calcareous outer layer, not the...

 is small. Elongate papillae arearranged longitudinally, and differing from all the other species collected in the Dafla Hills. The color is olivaceous ochre. The spire

Spire (mollusc)

A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...

 is low. The suture is shallow. The shell has 5 whorls

Whorl (mollusc)

A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...

 with sides convex above, rather flattened on the periphery of the last whorl. The aperture

Aperture (mollusc)

The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....

 is lunate, narrow, subvertical, milky white within, rounded below. The peristome is thin, slightly sinuate below, and nearly vertical near the columella.

The width of the shell is 13.2-15.2 mm. The height of the shell is 7.8 mm. The type specimen is not adult.