In 2013, a scientific investigations report by the United States Geological Survey concluded that the Kanab ambersnail is not a genetically distinct species.

In June 2021, following genetic testing that showed it was never a distinct subspecies, the Fish and Wildlife Service delisted the Kanab ambersnail from the federal endangered species list.

[11] In 2013, a report from the United States Geological Survey's scientific investigations concluded that the Kanab ambersnail does not represent a genetically distinct species.

[2] In January 2020, the Fish and Wildlife Service published a proposed rule removing the Kanab ambersnail from the Federal List of Endangered Species due to "taxonomic error".

[12][13] In June 2021, the FWS finalized the removal of the Kanab ambersnail from the endangered species list because it is not a district subspecies.

The shell is dextral (right-handed spiral), thin-walled, with an elevated spire and a Daly, patulous (expanded) aperture.

[17] Despite being air-breathing molluscs, they can survive for up to 32 hours in cold, highly oxygenated water, which may have helped to disperse its population around the Colorado Valley area since a controlled release was conducted in 1998.

[5] The Kanab ambersnail is typically found on host plants, primarily the scarlet monkeyflower (Erythranthe cardinalis) and watercress (Nasturtium officinale),[18] but also sedges and rushes.

[19] Like all pulmonate land snails, ambersnails are hermaphroditic, having both male and female reproductive systems, and are believed to be capable of self-fertilization.

[22] The Kanab ambersnail had been included United States Fish and Wildlife Service list of endangered mammals and birds since April 1992.

[23] The Kanab ambersnail was previously evaluated as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

[3] Additionally, Federal agencies are no longer mandated to consult under section 7 of the Act regarding actions that may potentially affect the snails previously identified as Kanab ambersnail or their habitat.