The oblong rocksnail (Leptoxis compacta), declared extinct in 2000 was recently rediscovered in the Cahaba River by a University of Alabama graduate student. Details of doctoral student Nathan Whelan’s discovery appear in the Aug. 8 issue of the scientific journal PLOS ONE. Nathan’s dissertation research is under the direction of Dr. Phil Harris.

News of the (re)discovery was picked up by a variety of local, national and international publications, including The New York Times, Scientific American, the French Tribune and many others.