Common Kidney-Vetch vs least chink shell

Anthyllis vulneraria compared with Lacuna parva

Key Differences

Common Kidney-Vetch is Vulnerable while least chink shell is Data Deficient.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Kidney-Vetch	least chink shell
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Mollusca (Mollusks)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Gastropoda (Gastropoda)
Order	Fabales (Legumes & Allies)	Littorinimorpha (Littorinimorpha)
Family	Fabaceae	Littorinidae
Genus	Anthyllis	Lacuna
Species	Anthyllis vulneraria	Lacuna parva

Conservation Status

Common Kidney-Vetch

VU — Vulnerable

least chink shell

DD — Data Deficient

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Kidney-Vetch	least chink shell
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Kidney-Vetch

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, and temperate coniferous forests, among 6 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Oceanian and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (9 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

least chink shell

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial and aquatic habitats including forests and freshwater.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Common Kidney-Vetch

Common Kidney-Vetch (<em>Anthyllis vulneraria</em>) is a flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae, assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat degradation and agricultural intensification across parts of its range. It is widely distributed across Africa (Libya), Asia (Japan), Europe (nine countries), North America (Canada and the United States), and Oceania (Australia), occupying six distinct biome types and occurring within the Indomalayan and Oceanian biogeographic realms. The species typically grows in dry, calcareous grasslands, coastal cliffs, sand dunes, and rocky slopes, often favoring nutrient-poor soils. It is an important larval food plant for certain butterfly species, particularly the Small Blue butterfly in Europe, and contributes to soil fertility through nitrogen fixation via root nodules. Its cheerful yellow, orange, or red flower heads make it a recognizable component of chalk and limestone grassland communities. Biological traits of this species remain poorly documented in the scientific literature.