Paryphanta [SEP] parent taxon
Paryphanta
Paryphanta is a genus of land snails in the family Rhytididae. Species from New Zealand are known commonly as kauri snails (Māori: pūpūrangi). They are closely related and similar to snails in the genus "Powelliphanta", which was formerly included within "Paryphanta".
There are just two species of "Paryphanta:" "Paryphanta busbyi" and "Paryphanta watti," which occur from North Cape to West Auckland.
"P. watti" occurs only at the extreme northern end of this range near
Taxon in disguise
In bacteriology, a taxon in disguise is a species, genus or higher unit of biological classification whose evolutionary history reveals has evolved from another unit of similar or lower rank, making the parent unit paraphyletic. This happens when rapid evolution makes a new species appear radically different from the ancestral group, so that it is not (initially) recognised as belonging to the parent phylogenetic group, leaving the latter an evolutionary grade.
While the term is from bacteriology, parallel examples are found throughout the tree of