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Only snuffbox mussel remains in Missouri

While activists were worrying about the spotted-owl's survival, biologists say one Missouri animal has probably become extinct.

Jennifer Sheffield reports from the capitol.

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Missouri Conservation Department biologists have stopped searching for Curtis' pearly-mussel.

Scientists last spotted the one-and-a-half inch snail-like creature in 1993.

Wildlife Ecologist, Janet Sternburg said pesticides and changes in stream flow most likely caused the disappearance.

Sternburg warns this could be a sign of things yet to come.

Actuality: Janet Sternburg
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Contents: [107K WAV file - ] Sternburg said even though it is a small animal, it shows that the environment is changing.

And if this mollusk doesn't reapper, the snuffbox mussel will be the only one of its kind still in Missouri.

I'm Jennifer Sheffield in Jefferson City.