Queen Crater

Description:

It has a shell width of 26.5-42 mm in length and usually consists of 6-6.5 whorls. The shell's color is yellow-brown and has a silky sheen. Its shell is somewhat fragile for how large it is considering it is the largest land snail in the Great Smokey Mountains. Also, it was formerly listed as Mesodon chilhoweensis, but has been changed to its present name. It is a species of special concern in North Carolina.

Habitat:

The Appalachina chilhoweensis can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains in the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The A. chilhoweensis are found in fairly strict environmental settings. Most are found up in high in the Appalachian Mountains on wooded slopes that consist of mixed hardwood forests under leaf litter. It can also be found among sandstone boulders of talus. Talus is a "pile" of rocks that is usually located at the bottom of a ledge of cliff where a buildup of sandstone boulders occurs due to environmental causes. The highest height the A. chilhoweensis has been recorded is 5400 feet.

Notes:

Found near Elkmont campground.