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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

This month, #SuperTyphoonBavi crossed Rota Island as a Cat 5 storm - too soon after ST Sinlaku. As Rota's people try to recover, my coworkers & I do our best for the wildlife. We left out fruit for fanihi fruit bats, checked on native birds & akaleha' tree snails, & cleaned up field sites

Satellite image of Super Typhoon Bavi's eye crossing Rota Island.

Songsong Village, Rota, as seen from within nearby jungle. Normally, jungle vegetation is too dense to see out into the village.

An area of Rota jungle repeatedly damaged by super typhoons. This site is a home to akaleha' Luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis).
Top left: Habitat in 2025.
Top right: Same area 5 days after Super Typhoon Sinlaku, with trees mostly bare of leaves.
Bottom left: Same area 7.5 weeks after Sunlaku, showing signs of recovery.
Bottom right: Same area 2 weeks after Super Typhoon Bavi, with even more damage to vegetation, such as downed trees.

Akaleha' Luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis) that survived Super Typhoon Bavi.

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Ocean Lani 🇲🇵🇬🇺 @oceanlani.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Another monster typhoon is brewing (a smaller one than last time HOPEFULLY) and I'm lining up for gas and getting PTSD 😪😫😩😭⚰️

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

It's dry season & the akaleha' are sleeping 🐌💤 When it's hot & dry, snails enter dormancy aka estivation so they don't overheat or dry up. When a snail estivates, it glues its shell shut with slime, then hides way back in the shell. See alt text for more #MolluskMonday #MolluscMonday #JoyOfMolluscs

Akaleha' dilikao (English: fragile tree snail, scientific name: Samoana fragilis) have transparent shells, which makes it easy to see how far an estivating akaleha' dilikao has withdrawn into its shell.

Photo shows an estivating akaleha' dilikao attached to wire fencing. The snail's flesh has withdrawn about half a whorl away from the shell opening. However, it is clearly still alive, based on the vibrant color of the body under the transparent shell.

Some akaleha' luta (English: Rota tree snail, scientific name: Partula lutaensis) have pale, semi-transparent shells, which also let you see how far it's withdrawn.

Photo shows an estivating akaleha' luta attached to a fern leaf growing from a tree trunk. The snail's flesh has withdrawn into the tip of the shell. It is possible that this snail died from hot, dry weather, and its body is continuing to dry up in the shell.

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Danna Staaf @dannastaaf.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

The wonderful malacology curator at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Jennifer Trimble, showed me around last week! I saw a model of the biggest Giant Pacific Octopus, a drawer full of argonaut shells, and a box of squid beaks found in the stomach of a dead whale in 1869 🤯 I LOVE MUSEUMS

Photo of a huge octopus model hanging in the atrium of one of the Harvard Museum buildings.

Top-down photo of a specimen drawer filled with boxes of different sizes. Each box holds a beautiful shell of an argonaut octopus (or sometimes multiple shells).

Photo of a specimen box in a drawer with other boxes visible around it. It is filled with hundreds of dark brown squid beaks and has several labels, including a very old handwritten note that reads "Taken from the stomach of a Cetacean. found dead on Dennis Beach. Jan 29, 2869 Mass."

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Super Typhoon #Sinlaku devastated human communities in the CNMI & injured our more-than-human communities: jungle, ocean, & animals. People of the CNMI help each other recover & rebuild. I hope our jungle, ocean, & animals will recover too, just as they have for millions of years #MarianasStrong

Photos taken before Super Typhoon Sinlaku, immediately after, and during habitat recovery, comparing beachside jungle on Rota Island. Photos taken in August 2025 (top), April 2026 (middle), and June 2026 (bottom). "Before" photo shows a small, sandy clearing with dappled light in a lush, green jungle. There are large, knotted trees, vines and screw pines grow along the ground, and bright green leaves fill the background. "After" photo shows the same clearing. Many of the large trees are standing, but some are broken or leaning at steep angles. The ground is bare sand with a tangle of dead branches. Most of the green leaves are gone, revealing stark tree trunks and the ocean in the background. "Recovery" photo shows the same clearing, with a few leaves returning to the trees and new vines creeping across the sand.

Photos taken before Super Typhoon Sinlaku, immediately after, and during habitat recovery, comparing jungle near Songsong Village on Rota Island. Photos taken in August 2025 (top), April 2026 (middle), and June 2026 (bottom). "Before" photo shows a lush, green tree canopy arching over a forest floor covered in leaf litter. More trees and screw pines grow in the background. The foreground is shaded, but there is sunlight on the ground behind. "After" photo shows the same arching tree, now with most leaves missing. Background trees have few leaves, and many bare branches are visible. The screw pine leaves are folded and yellowing. The entire scene is lit by harsh sunlight. "Recovery" photo shows the same arching tree, filling with new leaves. Background trees have new leaves as well. The foreground is softly shaded.

Photos taken immediately after Super Typhoon Sinlaku and during habitat recovery, comparing beachside jungle on Rota Island. Photos taken in April 2026 (top) and June 2026 (bottom). Before the storm, this area was an open, shaded grove. "After" photo shows large, bare tree trunks arch over a mess of dead branches on the ground. The branches lay so thick that it is impossible to see the ground underneath. Some of the branches are quite large. The ocean is visible on the left side of the photo, suggesting that these branches were collected and pushed inland by high surf, while strong winds knocked them down. "Recovery" photo shows the same trees and logs. The trees have patches of new leaves, and fresh vines are beginning to cover the logs.

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Emoji Meadow @emojimeadow.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

🍀🌿🌿🌿🌸🌼🌸🌿🌸 🌿🌿🌿🍀🌿🌸🌿🌿🍀 🌿🌿🍀🌿🍀🌸🌸🌿🌿 🌿🌿🌿🍀🍀🌷🌿🌿🌸 🌸🌿🌿🌿🌼🌸🌿🌿🌸 🌿🌿🌿🐌🍀🌼🌸🌸🌿 🌸🌿🌿🌼🌸🌿🌿🌿🌿

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

Hell, even when I start Monopoly on equal footing, I don't want to play. The game is boring and frustrating. Which was the original intent - as an object lesson in how much capitalism sucks

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 08/05/2026

Overnight this Omni ICE flight landed in Guam, where it sat for 7+ hours, before continuing west. It is about to make its first deportation stop, in Cambodia. Migrants passengers onboard have likely been shackled for at least 63 hours.

A FR24 map showing a 767 (N486AX) descending toward Phnom Penh.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Happy 100th Birthday to Sir David Attenborough Thank you for teaching me about slug sex youtu.be/wG9qpZ89qzc?... #JoyOfMulluscs

youtu.be

BBC Who Knew Slugs Could Be So Romantic

YouTube video by unireality

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

New paper on barriers faced by US/UK trans people in STEM. Good read (as much as reading about discrimination can be "good") The part about anti-trans laws limiting mobility resonated with me (cis woman) re: excluding US states with abortion restrictions from my job search doi.org/10.1111/asap...

doi.org

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Super Typhoon #Sinlaku devastated the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory. Luta Cares is delivering necessities like water to Rota Island residents in need $56.25 = 1 day of water for Rota residents on Saipan for medical referral www.paypal.com/qrcodes/mana... #MarianaStrong 🇲🇵

QR code to donate to Luta Cares.
https://www.paypal.com/qrcodes/managed/68f014ca-5956-4df1-913f-6ebe8a0a8299

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Weather forecast: "scattered showers becoming isolated showers" What is scattered vs isolated in this context???? Genuine question

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

Akaleha' dilikao (fragile tree snail, scientific name: Samoana fragilis) have translucent shells. Their colors come from the skin underneath, usually yellow & brown. The yellow varies from white to orange, and the brown from red to black. Some are mostly yellow or mostly brown 🤍💛🧡❤️🤎🖤 #JoyOfMolluscs

An akaleha' dilikao crawls on a leaf. The skin under its shell is marigold yellow with maroon splotches.

An akaleha' dilikao crawls on the underside of a leaf. The skin under its shell is creamy white with dark brown splotches. Light shining through the leaf casts a green hue on the snail.

An akaleha' dilikao crawls on a leaf. The skin under its shell is mostly lemon yellow, with spidery threads of darkest brown.

An akaleha' dilikao crawls up a tree trunk. The skin under its shell has islands of butter yellow in a sea of nearly black.

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Did you know that the bees that need saving are NOT honeybees? Honeybees are the dairy cows of bees. People brought them over from Europe to make us honey. The problem with honeybees, esp in resource-limited ecosystems (like hey! cities!) is that they compete with our native bees for food.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

This morning, a couple local kids job shadowed me for an experiment on flatworm predation on slugs. This evening, I submitted a paper on science education and outreach with molluscs. It's been a good day 🐌🤓 #JoyOfMolluscs

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Oh Deer! Philippine deer (Chamorro: binadu, scientific name: Rusa marianna) were introduced to Guam in the 1770s & later the Northern Marianas. Deer hunting is important to CNMI culture. In the Philippines, deer are vulnerable to extinction. But here, deer are invasive & damage native habitat 🦌

A deer skull with knobby antlers, submitted to the 2024 Bisita Luta deer hunting competition on Rota Islands. The skull sits in front of a "Most Unique" sign.

Seedling of a native plant (Chamorro: kafu, English: screwpine, scientific name: Pandanus tectorius) damaged by deer grazing. Kafu is an important host plant for akaleha' luta (English: Rota tree snail, scientific name: Partula lutaensis), an at-risk tree snail species found only on Rota.

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Chipockalips Now! @fragboner.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Snail helm is go

Snail helmet with the shell being the helm and snail being the face cover

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

🎉✨🎇🎆Happy New Year!🎆🎇✨🎉 Here’s to another year of akaleha’ tree snail conservation successes & surprises in 2026 Please enjoy these baby akaleha' as we welcome the young year #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs 🐌

A juvenile akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a young breadfruit tree. The snail crawls away from the observer, stretching its sensory tentacles towards the future.

A neonate akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) resting on the underside of a leaf.

A subadult akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a fern. The snail’s shell is starting to form a lip at the opening, a sign of maturity.

A neonate akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling on a leaf.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

1. 🥁drumroll🥁 We learned about more Rota sites with akaleha' tree snails! 😲 Stumbled into thriving disjunct (sub)populations at a known site 👆 @anngawel.bsky.social showed us a spot she knew a decade ago 💬 Community reports (& GPS point) for a spot we have yet to visit 🐌🎉 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

Dr. Ann Marie Gawel (left) and Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne (right) during a fieldwork day on Rota Island.

Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne looks at an akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on a thin piece of dry palm frond.

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawling along a branch, as seen from below. The shell is pale lemon yellow with a dark maroon stripe following the spiral.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

No, I don't, but other folks might. A lot of what I've heard makes it sound recent, like tied to the tourist industry. I do know that akaleha' collecting and crafting continued until the mid to late 20th century

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

2. We did a study on habitats & host plants for 2 species of akaleha' tree snails on Rota 🔅Partula lutaensis uses habitats with big shade trees but prefers not to live on these trees ↔️Samoana fragilis is hard to study, because individual snails are so spread out 🐌🌴🌳🌿📝 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a Flagellaria indica vine. Can you find the snail?

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a Triphasia trifolia shrub.

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on one of their favorite plants, a young Morinda citrifolia tree. Can you find the snail?

An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) on one of their favorite plants, a Pandanus dubius screwpine.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

3. We learned from dozens of manamko (elders) on Rota about past collecting & uses of akaleha' tree snails. So did @anngawel.bsky.social! Thank you to the older generations for sharing your memories of jungles filled with akaleha' 💗🐌 👵🏽🧑🏿‍🦳👴🏾👨🏽‍🦳🧓🏼👩🏾‍🦳 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #MolluscMonday

Two bunches of akaleha’ shell beads. All shells are pink with golden tips and white stripes following the shell spiral. Photo by Dr. Ann Marie Gawel.

Purse beaded with white and pink akaleha’ shells in a checkerboard pattern. There are more akaleha’ purses in a variety of colors in the background. Photo by Dr. Ann Marie Gawel.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

4. We secured nearly $300k USD in funding for akaleha' tree snail conservation 🥾US Fish & Wildlife Service Competitive State Wildlife Grant for Partula lutaensis & Samoana fragilis on Rota 🫡Dept of Defense cooperative agreement for Partula gibba on Tinian 🐌 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #MolluscMonday

Two akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis).

An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis).

A humped tree snail (Partula gibba). Photo by Dr. Brenden Holland.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

5. This is a sad one Using long-term monitoring data since 2019, we showed that one population of akaleha' luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) and the only known Rota population of akaleha dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) are shrinking 🐌📉 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSunday

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls down a palm frond on Rota Island.

An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) crawls up a tree trunk on Rota Island.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

6. We started monitoring invasive predators of akaleha' tree snails 🐀Rats 👿New Guinea flatworms - probably the leading cause of akaleha' decline 🪱"Mystery" flatworms & ribbon worms - collected for future identification & DNA analysis #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSunday 🐌

Bleached, broken akaleha’ shells, probably chewed by rats.

A pile of New Guinea flatworms (Chamorro: ulu’ atilung, Platydemus manokwari). There are too many flatworms to count.

An unidentified flatworm crawling on a lichen-covered rock on Rota Island. The flatworm is yellow with dark stripes down its back. It is very long and doubled over on itself.

An unidentified ribbon worm crawling on a tree trunk on Rota Island. The ribbon worm is tan with a faint stripe down its back.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

A is for Aaaaba Not long overall, but an obnoxiously long string of As

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

7. We expanded local & international akaleha' tree snail outreach Local 🇲🇵 Info booth at Rota festivals Taught kids at a Rota summer camp Int'l 🌏 Akaleha' habitat data at World Congress of Malacology Taught kids in China with @skypeascientist.bsky.social #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs #SnailSaturday

A child compares akaleha’ shells to other kinds of snail shells with Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne at the Gilita Festival on Rota Island.

Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne shows local Rota children a slide of an akaleha’ shell purse at the CNMI Department of Community & Cultural Affairs Division of Youth Services Back2School Summer Youth Empowerment Camp.

Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne virtually presents “Food & Shade: Habitat characteristics and host plant preferences of the single-island endemic Pacific Island tree snail Partula lutaensis (Stylommatophora: Partulidae)” at the World Congress of Malacology 2025 in Brazil.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

8. We made data-backed akaleha' tree snail management recommendations 🏝️Once-a-decade updates to the CNMI Wildlife Action Plan🇲🇵 🥾US Fish and Wildlife Service Mariana Islands Conservation Strategy 🫡CNMI Joint Military Training Revised Environmental Impact Statement 🐌📊🤓 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls on the underside of a leaf on Rota Island.

Three akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis) crawl on vines on Rota Island.

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls across a leaf on Rota Island.

An akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) crawls on a palm frond on Rota Island.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

9. We hired local contractors to remove a fence at an akaleha' tree snail site on Rota🇲🇵 This fence was originally built to keep deer from harming akaleha' habitat, but typhoon damage made it useless. What a relief to remove all that metal from the jungle! 🐌🌳🥅🦌 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

An akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) on old wire fencing on Rota Island. The snail is in estivation, a state of dormancy in response to dry weather. Because the shell is transparent, it is possible to see that the snail has drawn itself deep into the shell.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

10. We updated our survey methods to more accurately map areas occupied by akaleha' tree snails. We’re now finding snails further away than expected from the dense hearts of akaleha' populations 🐌📋🗺️ #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

A researcher pulls up a leaf to reveal an akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snail, Partula lutaensis) on Rota Island. The shell fades from deep red-brown near the opening to pale beige at the tip. The lip around the shell opening is pale peach, and there is a deep maroon stripe following the shell coil.

Researcher Dr. Teresa Rose Osborne looks at an akaleha’ dilikao (fragile tree snail, Samoana fragilis) hanging from a large leaf on Rota Island. The snail’s shell is transparent, revealing the yellow and brown pattern on the flesh underneath.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

2025 was a year of progress & discoveries for akaleha' tree snail conservation here in the CNMI 🐌 Akaleha' are tree snails in Family Partulidae native to the Mariana Islands🇲🇵🇬🇺 To count down the new year, Here's our Top 10 Akaleha' Conservation Moments of 2025 #InverteFest #JoyOfMolluscs

Collage of akaleha’ luta (Rota tree snails, Partula lutaensis) from Rota Island.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

That's excellent! I'm excited to hear how it goes PhDs can be a motherf*cker. If you want to chat with someone on the other side of that experience as you make your way through it, I'm happy to send you my WhatsApp or email

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

I had the delight of meeting these (or a related species) and other very large snails while studying abroad in Ecuador back in 2013 Why are there giant land snails in the tropics (e.g. these Ecuadorian species, giant African snails), but giant slugs in temperate zones? #JoyOfMolluscs 🐌

I look at two very large land snails sitting on a bed of lettuce in a market stand in Quito, Ecuador. The snails may be the same species as the snail in the quoted video.

I look at a large land snail hanging from a tree in coastal Ecuador. The snail's extended foot, which clings to a thin branch, is surprisingly small compared to its shell. It is a different species from the other snails in this post.

I hold up a large land snail in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The snail extends from its shell as if looking back at me. It is a different species from other snails in this post.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Hey, I wanna hear about your PhD. Discipline? Topic/project? Years in program?

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Gotta love Lisa Frank squid babies Also gotta love creative uses of mucus #JoyOfMolluscs

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Sometimes, the student's expectations for themselves are here 👉🏻 And their work is here 👉🏻 And the instructor's expectations are here 👉🏻 So they think they did bad, but they didn't

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Reposted by Teresa Rose Osborne

Emoji Meadow @emojimeadow.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

🍄🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🌷 🍀🍀🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀🌷🍀 🍀🍀🌷🌷🍄🍀🌷🍀🌷 🍀🍀🍀🌺🍀🍀🌷🌷🌷 🌺🌺🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀🍀🌷 🌷🍀🍀🐌🍀🌺🍀🌺🍀 🍀🍀🍀🌺🍀🌷🍀🍀🍀

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Lovely piece from @anngawel.bsky.social on akaleha' tree snails in Guam & the CNMI. Dr. Gawel visited Rota to hear from elders on how they collected & used akaleha'. And she helped me map living akaleha' & showed me an akaleha' site I didn't know! #JoyOfMolluscs www.guampdn.com/lifestyle/st...

guampdn.com

Start small, start now: Akaleha’—our forests’ living gems

When you grow up in Micronesia, you can sometimes feel a bit small and overlooked compared to the rest of the world. After all, “Micro,” meaning “small,” is literally in

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

- obsessed with slugs as a kid - learned in 8th grade that paid to play with slugs = "biology" - research opportunities in undergrad & grad school for shelled snails, so I expanded my horizons to the shelly - postdoc was ending & saw a job posting for snail conservation on a tropical Pacific Island

I stand under a tree in a tropical rainforest on Rota Island in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. I gaze up at the tree, searching its leaves for endangered tree snails (Rota tree snails, Chamorro: akaleha' Luta, scientific name: Partula lutaensis). I stand on a fern-covered slope, flanked by limestone cliffs. The forest behind me glows in the sunlight.

An endangered tree snail (Rota tree snail, Chamorro: akaleha' Luta, scientific name: Partula lutaensis) crawls on a coconut palm frond. Its shell is beige, and its foot and tentacles are pale, translucent gray.

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Teresa Rose Osborne @trosborne.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

As a gastroenterologist, I am Personally Offended 🐌

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Elizabeth Beston @elizabethbeston.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Cutie baby sea snails hanging out. #marineplankton 🦑

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