Cochlicopa nitens (Gallenstein) in the British Late-glacial and Holocene

A detailed biometric study of the Cochlicopa from Late-glacial and Post-glacial deposits at Holywell Coombe, Folkestone has demonstrated the presence of three species – Cochlicopa lubrica, C. lubricella and C. nitens. The last, which can he readily distinguished from the others on account of its much broader (2.83–3.16 mm), darker-coloured shell, was only present in marsh sediments that accumulated under interstadial conditions at the beginning of the Late-glacial period (12–13,000 BP). This constitutes a new record from the British Late-glacial. Re-examination of fossil Cochlicopa from other sites has shown that C. nitens was also present in Late-glacial deposits of similar age in Northamptonshire and from early Post-glacial tufas in Lincolnshire and North Wales. It has also been recognized from several Late Pleistocene interglacial sites in eastern England.