okt 2009
Snails and climate
30-10-2009 19:50
Earlier on, I reported
on a dispute in literature about snails in the
desert
near Antofagasta, Chile. Essentially, it was about the
influence of the climate on shell shape. Hyperarid
areas like the Atacama desert are a special
habitat for snails and if unusual shell shapes are
found it is very interesting.
Also in southern Peru snails may be found in the very arid coastal area.
This is a picture taken by Ralf Hesse near Nazca. A detailed shot reveals that here there are two forms present. The slender form resembles Bostryx hennahi (Gray, 1830), the stouter shells B. styliger (Beck, 1832).
It became interesting when I saw different photographs taken by him in the same area. These show that the latter species exhibits a transition to carinate forms; the latter resembles Bostryx reentsi (Philippi, 1851) known to occur slightly more southward near Chala.
This carination is hypothesized to be the result of ‘ecological stress’, in the case of the Chilean species by displacement through flooding or mud streams beyond the limits of their normal habitat. Indeed, there is reference in literature about climatic variability along the Chilean and southern Peruvian coast (Garreaud & Battisti, 1999; Vargas et al., 2006), due to the El Niño phenomenon.
Recently, studies have suggested that this mechanism also extended to the Nazca region during Pleistocene times (Eitel et al., 2005; Mächtle et al, in press). They hypothesize that a much more humid climate existed during the Pleistocene, with an increased aridification during the Holocene. Between 1000-1400 a semi-arid period would have occurred. The presence of loess in parts of the area on the flank of the Andes is an important argument in their papers. Radiocarbon dating of shells found amidst the loess dates this layer at ca. 10.000 yr BP. They postulate that the formation of the loess was influenced by monsoons crossing the Andes from Amazonia and leading to a higher precipitation.
Figure 3 from Mächtle et al. (in press), with the erroneous classification as Scutalus chiletensis granulatus Weyrauch; this is a species from N-Peru.
Hesse & Baade (2007) pointed out that an alternative explanation for the loess formation could be the fog vegetation occurring in coastal Peru and Chile (Garreaud et al., 2008). The occurrences of floods and debris flows has been recorded for the Ilo region in southern Peru (Keefer et al., 2003), but it may have also occurred in the Nazca region.
In conclusion, the occurrence of carinate shells with a transition to normal shell forms near Nazca is an interesting find. And although the evidence provided in literature points to floods and debris flows as a possible factor, more detailed research is needed to understand the mechanism of carination at play here.
References:
Eitel, B., Hecht, S., Mächtle, B., Schukraft, G., Kadereit, A., Wagner, G.A., Kromer, B., Unkel, I. & Rendel, M., 2005. Geoarchaeological evidence from desert loess in the Nazca-Palpa region, southern Peru: palaeoenvironmental changes and their impact on pre-Columbian cultures. - Archaeometry 47: 137-158.
Garreaud, R. & Battisti, D., 1999. Interannual (ENSO) and interdecadal (ENSO-like) variability in the Southern Hemisphere tropospheric circulation. - Journal of Climate 12: 2113-2123.
Garreaud, R., Barichivich, J, Christie, D.A. & Maldonado, A., 2008. Interannual variability of the coastal fog at Fray Jorge relict forests in semiarid Chile. - Journal of Geophysical Research 113: G04011.
Hesse, R. & Baade, J., 2007. Palaeoenvironmental changes in the Nazca-Palpa region, southern Peru--alternative interpretations of geoarchaeological evidence. - Archaeometry 49: 595-602.
Keefer, D.K., Moseley, M.E. & deFrance, S.D., 2003. A 38000-year record of floods and debris flows in the Ilo region of southern Peru and its relation to El Niño events and great earthquakes. - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194: 41-77.
Mächtle, B., Unkel, I., Eitel, B., Kromer, B. & Schiegl, S., in press. Molluscs as evidence for a late Pleistocene and early Holocene humid period in the southern coastal desert of Peru (14.5⁰S) - Quartenary Research.
Vargas, G., Rutllant, J. & Ortlieb, L., 2006. ENSO tropical-extratropical climate teleconnections and mechanisms for Holocene debris flows along the hyperarid coast of western South America (17⁰-24⁰S). - Earth and Planetary Science Letters 249: 467-483.
Also in southern Peru snails may be found in the very arid coastal area.
This is a picture taken by Ralf Hesse near Nazca. A detailed shot reveals that here there are two forms present. The slender form resembles Bostryx hennahi (Gray, 1830), the stouter shells B. styliger (Beck, 1832).
It became interesting when I saw different photographs taken by him in the same area. These show that the latter species exhibits a transition to carinate forms; the latter resembles Bostryx reentsi (Philippi, 1851) known to occur slightly more southward near Chala.
This carination is hypothesized to be the result of ‘ecological stress’, in the case of the Chilean species by displacement through flooding or mud streams beyond the limits of their normal habitat. Indeed, there is reference in literature about climatic variability along the Chilean and southern Peruvian coast (Garreaud & Battisti, 1999; Vargas et al., 2006), due to the El Niño phenomenon.
Recently, studies have suggested that this mechanism also extended to the Nazca region during Pleistocene times (Eitel et al., 2005; Mächtle et al, in press). They hypothesize that a much more humid climate existed during the Pleistocene, with an increased aridification during the Holocene. Between 1000-1400 a semi-arid period would have occurred. The presence of loess in parts of the area on the flank of the Andes is an important argument in their papers. Radiocarbon dating of shells found amidst the loess dates this layer at ca. 10.000 yr BP. They postulate that the formation of the loess was influenced by monsoons crossing the Andes from Amazonia and leading to a higher precipitation.
Figure 3 from Mächtle et al. (in press), with the erroneous classification as Scutalus chiletensis granulatus Weyrauch; this is a species from N-Peru.
Hesse & Baade (2007) pointed out that an alternative explanation for the loess formation could be the fog vegetation occurring in coastal Peru and Chile (Garreaud et al., 2008). The occurrences of floods and debris flows has been recorded for the Ilo region in southern Peru (Keefer et al., 2003), but it may have also occurred in the Nazca region.
In conclusion, the occurrence of carinate shells with a transition to normal shell forms near Nazca is an interesting find. And although the evidence provided in literature points to floods and debris flows as a possible factor, more detailed research is needed to understand the mechanism of carination at play here.
References:
Eitel, B., Hecht, S., Mächtle, B., Schukraft, G., Kadereit, A., Wagner, G.A., Kromer, B., Unkel, I. & Rendel, M., 2005. Geoarchaeological evidence from desert loess in the Nazca-Palpa region, southern Peru: palaeoenvironmental changes and their impact on pre-Columbian cultures. - Archaeometry 47: 137-158.
Garreaud, R. & Battisti, D., 1999. Interannual (ENSO) and interdecadal (ENSO-like) variability in the Southern Hemisphere tropospheric circulation. - Journal of Climate 12: 2113-2123.
Garreaud, R., Barichivich, J, Christie, D.A. & Maldonado, A., 2008. Interannual variability of the coastal fog at Fray Jorge relict forests in semiarid Chile. - Journal of Geophysical Research 113: G04011.
Hesse, R. & Baade, J., 2007. Palaeoenvironmental changes in the Nazca-Palpa region, southern Peru--alternative interpretations of geoarchaeological evidence. - Archaeometry 49: 595-602.
Keefer, D.K., Moseley, M.E. & deFrance, S.D., 2003. A 38000-year record of floods and debris flows in the Ilo region of southern Peru and its relation to El Niño events and great earthquakes. - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 194: 41-77.
Mächtle, B., Unkel, I., Eitel, B., Kromer, B. & Schiegl, S., in press. Molluscs as evidence for a late Pleistocene and early Holocene humid period in the southern coastal desert of Peru (14.5⁰S) - Quartenary Research.
Vargas, G., Rutllant, J. & Ortlieb, L., 2006. ENSO tropical-extratropical climate teleconnections and mechanisms for Holocene debris flows along the hyperarid coast of western South America (17⁰-24⁰S). - Earth and Planetary Science Letters 249: 467-483.
Photo of the day (75): Hemibulimus
29-10-2009 09:58
This picture was taken
in Colombia, Dept. Cauca, Zingara. It is a specimen
of Hemibulimus
dennisoni (Reeve, 1848). When you compare it
to the picture that was posted previously,
the greenish colour of the Zingara specimen is
remarkable.
According to Andrés Quintaro - who kindly sent me the photograph - the shell is grown with algae. Possibly when the periostracum erodes away during the snail’s life, the shell surface becomes rugged enough for algae if the circumstances are right.
According to Andrés Quintaro - who kindly sent me the photograph - the shell is grown with algae. Possibly when the periostracum erodes away during the snail’s life, the shell surface becomes rugged enough for algae if the circumstances are right.
A rare paper
28-10-2009 19:05
Some papers are very
rare and hard to find. One of these is a publication
on Hispaniola by Wetherbee & Clench (1987).
This paper was published a few years after the death of William J. Clench, as explained in the introduction. As it was privately published, it is very hard to find and seldom referred to. During the preparation of an upcoming paper on Hispaniola, I found it listed but failed to be able to locate it in any library.
As a last resource I wrote to Adam Baldinger (MCZ, Boston). He said it was present in their library and Samatha Edelheit, librarian, was so kind to send it by snailmail.
In 1891, Crosse published a catalogue of non-marine species of Hispaniola in the Journal de Conchyliologie. He listed 277 taxa, which are treated by Wetherbee & Clench in the Appendix to present-day species. A bibliography of malacological literature referring to the island completes the first part of this publication.
The second part is a brief biohistorical outline on the terrestrial Hispaniolan malacofauna. Starting in 1840 with a paper of Grateloup, a number of descriptors and collectors are mentioned.
Since the paper is so hard to get, I publish it here as a service. There are four parts: 1. Introduction, catalogue; 2. Appendix; 3. Bibliography; 4. History of early Hispaniolan malacology.
Reference:
Wetherbee, D.K. & Clench, W.J., 1987. Catalog of the terrestrial and fluviatile mollusk fauna of Hispaniola, and an history of early Hispaniolan malacology: i-iv, 1-89. Shelburne, Mass.
This paper was published a few years after the death of William J. Clench, as explained in the introduction. As it was privately published, it is very hard to find and seldom referred to. During the preparation of an upcoming paper on Hispaniola, I found it listed but failed to be able to locate it in any library.
As a last resource I wrote to Adam Baldinger (MCZ, Boston). He said it was present in their library and Samatha Edelheit, librarian, was so kind to send it by snailmail.
In 1891, Crosse published a catalogue of non-marine species of Hispaniola in the Journal de Conchyliologie. He listed 277 taxa, which are treated by Wetherbee & Clench in the Appendix to present-day species. A bibliography of malacological literature referring to the island completes the first part of this publication.
The second part is a brief biohistorical outline on the terrestrial Hispaniolan malacofauna. Starting in 1840 with a paper of Grateloup, a number of descriptors and collectors are mentioned.
Since the paper is so hard to get, I publish it here as a service. There are four parts: 1. Introduction, catalogue; 2. Appendix; 3. Bibliography; 4. History of early Hispaniolan malacology.
Reference:
Wetherbee, D.K. & Clench, W.J., 1987. Catalog of the terrestrial and fluviatile mollusk fauna of Hispaniola, and an history of early Hispaniolan malacology: i-iv, 1-89. Shelburne, Mass.
Photo of the day (76): Bostryx
27-10-2009 16:58
Bostryx
radiatus (Morelet, 1863) was collected near
Ollantaytambo, Dept. Cuzco, Peru by Valentín
Mogollón. These are some pictures that he took while
the animals were at his home.
Photo of the day (74): Rhodea
26-10-2009 22:05
A very peculiar and
characteristic genus, occurring in Colombia and
northern Ecuador, is Rhodea. It is classified with the
Subulinidae, but its anatomy is unknown. Grego et al.
(2007) published a review in which they (re)described
9 species and gave details on their distribution.
Most species are known from old material only and it
may be concluded that Rhodea is a rare find nowadays.
Andrés Quintaro recently found these specimens of R. gigantea Mousson, 1873 during field work in Valle del Cauca, near Laguna Calima.
Reference:
Grego, J., Steffek, J. & Infante, A.P., 2007. Review of the genus Rhodea (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Subulinidae), with description of two new species from Colombia. - Basteria 71: 13-28.
Andrés Quintaro recently found these specimens of R. gigantea Mousson, 1873 during field work in Valle del Cauca, near Laguna Calima.
Reference:
Grego, J., Steffek, J. & Infante, A.P., 2007. Review of the genus Rhodea (Gastropoda, Pulmonata, Subulinidae), with description of two new species from Colombia. - Basteria 71: 13-28.
Photo of the day (73): Labyrinthus
23-10-2009 07:36
Another species from
the same locality, Río Arabela in northern Peru, is
this Labyrinthus
raimondii (Philippi, 1867).
These photographs are also by courtesy of Grace Montalván.
These photographs are also by courtesy of Grace Montalván.
Photo of the day (72): Plekocheilus
22-10-2009 07:51
Another species that
Grace Montalván collected near Río Arabela in
northern Peru is Plekocheilus (Eurytus)
superstriatus (Sowerby, 1899). Although the field
of depth of these photographs is not excellent, I’m
happy to show them here, as these are also the first
pictures showing the living animal.
When you compare it to the pictures from yesterday, you will see a marked difference in the body colour. Unfortunately this snail too didn’t survive very long after being collected.
Thanks Grace!
When you compare it to the pictures from yesterday, you will see a marked difference in the body colour. Unfortunately this snail too didn’t survive very long after being collected.
Thanks Grace!
Photo of the day (71): Plekocheilus
21-10-2009 20:35
Today some pictures of
a wide-spread species, Plekocheilus (Eurytus)
floccosus (Spix, 1827). As far as I know,
these are the first pictures showing the living
animal. The specimens were found in Peru, near Río
Arabela.
Unfortunately, the snails died after being collected by Grace Montalván, who also made the photographs.
Unfortunately, the snails died after being collected by Grace Montalván, who also made the photographs.
E-publication and SCI
20-10-2009 22:26
The International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is now
discussing the possibility of electronic-only
publications. Until now publication of a new name is
only valid if the paper is also printed on paper and
distributed to a number of institutions. The
Commission has recently published a number of comments on the
proposal to change the Code.
Electronic publication is usually interpreted as e-version of papers in journals. Some journals, like PLoS, only appear electronically and this quite rapidly followed by other journals. Even museums are progressing on this track, the journals of e.g. Naturalis will undoubtedly no longer be printed within a few years.
Another way of publishing electronically is putting data in databases, making these avaialble on the net, or in dedicated templates, e.g. Scratchpad, EOL, LifeDesk. In short: web-based taxonomy. This is potentially more useful on a longer term as the comprehensiveness is much bigger. Moreover it may be coupled to initiatives like Open Taxonomy, stimulating non-professional users to contribute in various ways.
With the on-going rat-race, it is the SCI that rules the universities and even natural history museums are getting influenced. Taxonomists are stimulated to perform “high profile research” (alpha-taxonomy being ‘sooo 20th century...’) and only publications in “high-ranking SCI journals” are being seen as useful. It may be the dilusion of the day, but this viral idea is spreading rapidly. While in some science departments journals are being trashed after 10 years, their contents being totally irrelevant, taxonomic publications will stay useful and remain so since 1758. Some ‘managers’ fail to grasp this fact and unless they manage to change the Code or make taxonomy obsolete in other ways, impact factors should be treated in a different way.
Recently, PLoS has introduced article-level metrics of usage. Although this might be considered as progress by some, I still wonder when contributions to (web-based) taxonomy will be fully valued. Without that, SCI-ranking in its current form has to be valued of little use for taxonomy. About SCI and the pitfalls of citation index, see also Reedijk & Moed (2008).
Reference:
Reedijk, J. & Moed, H.F., 2008. Is the impact of journal impact factors decreasing? - Journal of Documentation 64: 183-192.
Electronic publication is usually interpreted as e-version of papers in journals. Some journals, like PLoS, only appear electronically and this quite rapidly followed by other journals. Even museums are progressing on this track, the journals of e.g. Naturalis will undoubtedly no longer be printed within a few years.
Another way of publishing electronically is putting data in databases, making these avaialble on the net, or in dedicated templates, e.g. Scratchpad, EOL, LifeDesk. In short: web-based taxonomy. This is potentially more useful on a longer term as the comprehensiveness is much bigger. Moreover it may be coupled to initiatives like Open Taxonomy, stimulating non-professional users to contribute in various ways.
With the on-going rat-race, it is the SCI that rules the universities and even natural history museums are getting influenced. Taxonomists are stimulated to perform “high profile research” (alpha-taxonomy being ‘sooo 20th century...’) and only publications in “high-ranking SCI journals” are being seen as useful. It may be the dilusion of the day, but this viral idea is spreading rapidly. While in some science departments journals are being trashed after 10 years, their contents being totally irrelevant, taxonomic publications will stay useful and remain so since 1758. Some ‘managers’ fail to grasp this fact and unless they manage to change the Code or make taxonomy obsolete in other ways, impact factors should be treated in a different way.
Recently, PLoS has introduced article-level metrics of usage. Although this might be considered as progress by some, I still wonder when contributions to (web-based) taxonomy will be fully valued. Without that, SCI-ranking in its current form has to be valued of little use for taxonomy. About SCI and the pitfalls of citation index, see also Reedijk & Moed (2008).
Reference:
Reedijk, J. & Moed, H.F., 2008. Is the impact of journal impact factors decreasing? - Journal of Documentation 64: 183-192.
Snail diversity in the Neotropics
19-10-2009 21:00
For an upcoming
publication a picture of the snail diversity in a
number of countries in Central and South America has
been prepared.
The large dots show the total number of land snails (grey dots) and Orthalicidae (black dots) in each of the selected countries (from left to right: Costa Rica, Panama, French Guiana, Suriname, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Brazil).
At present, only the regression line for the Orthalicidae is significant, but a recent paper shows that defining a Species-Area Relationship is more than “just the functional relationship between species number and area” (Williams et al., 2009).
The figure above still serves the pupose to illustrate my argument that snail diversity in Peru is relatively higher than in other countries. There may be different factors beneath the surface. Hopefully, more on this subject later,.
Reference:
Williams, M.R., Lamont, B.R. & Henstridge, J.D., 2009. Species-area functions revisited. - Journal of Biogeography 36: 1994-2004.
The large dots show the total number of land snails (grey dots) and Orthalicidae (black dots) in each of the selected countries (from left to right: Costa Rica, Panama, French Guiana, Suriname, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Brazil).
At present, only the regression line for the Orthalicidae is significant, but a recent paper shows that defining a Species-Area Relationship is more than “just the functional relationship between species number and area” (Williams et al., 2009).
The figure above still serves the pupose to illustrate my argument that snail diversity in Peru is relatively higher than in other countries. There may be different factors beneath the surface. Hopefully, more on this subject later,.
Reference:
Williams, M.R., Lamont, B.R. & Henstridge, J.D., 2009. Species-area functions revisited. - Journal of Biogeography 36: 1994-2004.
Photo of the day (70): Isomeria
16-10-2009 21:57
Andrés Quintaro kindly
sent me some new pictures of Colombian land snails
and I’m happy to share them with you.
This is Isomeria oreas (Koch, 1845) and was photographed in Dept. Tolima, near Filandia.
This is Isomeria oreas (Koch, 1845) and was photographed in Dept. Tolima, near Filandia.
Photo of the day (69): Drymaeus
15-10-2009 08:42
Living snails may be
difficult to find. Raúl Castro Zea, living in
Venezuela near Caracas, was lucky enough to obtain a
few specimens of Drymaeus.
This is a species that is quite variable, both in shell shape and in colour pattern. Hence many names are available in literature. It may be called D. menkei (Gruner, 1841), which is the oldest available name I could find for it. Notice the greyish colour of the body. The species is known from various places in northern Venezuela.
Thanks Raúl for supplying these pictures.
This is a species that is quite variable, both in shell shape and in colour pattern. Hence many names are available in literature. It may be called D. menkei (Gruner, 1841), which is the oldest available name I could find for it. Notice the greyish colour of the body. The species is known from various places in northern Venezuela.
Thanks Raúl for supplying these pictures.
Science as a lottery
14-10-2009 20:11
Are all changes a
contribution to the advancement of science?
Today two messages from different sources interlocked in the end.
First, I read on the Taxacom discussion list an advertisement for a PhD-student. “Student should be curious, driven and excited enough about science that it is what they might choose to do were they to [do] win the lottery”. Lottery?? I was puzzled to see scientific work being compared to winning a lottery. Yes, I know that it is hard for scientists to find a proper job and, yes, it is sometimes a matter of good luck to have an application being granted. But is this so structural that you can speak of a lottery?
An hour later I incidentally found the paper of Lawrence (2009) and then I realized: it is becoming more and more a lottery! What started out many years ago as a way to stir up competition between scientists, has become a rather perverted system. Read Lawrence’s paper!
Science is like society in general: not every change is a good change. For sure, this one is not.
Reference:
Lawrence, P.A., 2009. Real lives and white lies in the funding of scientific research. - PLoS Biology 7(9): e1000197.
Today two messages from different sources interlocked in the end.
First, I read on the Taxacom discussion list an advertisement for a PhD-student. “Student should be curious, driven and excited enough about science that it is what they might choose to do were they to [do] win the lottery”. Lottery?? I was puzzled to see scientific work being compared to winning a lottery. Yes, I know that it is hard for scientists to find a proper job and, yes, it is sometimes a matter of good luck to have an application being granted. But is this so structural that you can speak of a lottery?
An hour later I incidentally found the paper of Lawrence (2009) and then I realized: it is becoming more and more a lottery! What started out many years ago as a way to stir up competition between scientists, has become a rather perverted system. Read Lawrence’s paper!
Science is like society in general: not every change is a good change. For sure, this one is not.
Reference:
Lawrence, P.A., 2009. Real lives and white lies in the funding of scientific research. - PLoS Biology 7(9): e1000197.
Southern Brazilian snails
09-10-2009 10:46
Brazilian non-marine snails are relatively well-known
after the publication of Simone (2006). Still, it is
interesting to see more detailed studies of parts of
this vast country.
In the beginning of the year a paper appeared in Tentacle about Santa Catarina state by Agudo & Bleicker. Recently, Ignacio Agudo published several additional papers on land snails of States in southern Brazil. Several of these appeared in Ellipsaria, the newsletter of the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society in Illinois, USA. This newsletter, which is issued a few times per year, is a not-so-apparent journal for information on Neotropical land snails.
Although it may be useful to have records for species per state, it would even be more useful if precisely localities would be published. In that case the data could be used by later authors to build distribution maps or analyze the data. After all, a state may seem a small area when you map it on the scale of a big country like Brazil, from a snail’s perspective it’s still a huge area.
References:
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009a. New malacological records from Paraná State, Southern Brazil region, with a general synthesys of current knowledge - Ellipsaria 11 (1): 11-13.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009b. New malacological records from Paraná State, Southern Brazil Region. II. Supplementary Annex. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 6-7.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009c. Endangered continental mollusks of Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil: An Overview. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 7-8.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009d. General mollusk fauna of Rio Grande do Sul State, Southernmost Brazil Region: a Preliminary Revision Rehearsal. II. New Bibliographical Records. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 9-10.
Simone, L.R.L., 2006. Land and freshwater molluscs of Brazil. Sao Paulo: EGB, Fapesp.
In the beginning of the year a paper appeared in Tentacle about Santa Catarina state by Agudo & Bleicker. Recently, Ignacio Agudo published several additional papers on land snails of States in southern Brazil. Several of these appeared in Ellipsaria, the newsletter of the Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society in Illinois, USA. This newsletter, which is issued a few times per year, is a not-so-apparent journal for information on Neotropical land snails.
Although it may be useful to have records for species per state, it would even be more useful if precisely localities would be published. In that case the data could be used by later authors to build distribution maps or analyze the data. After all, a state may seem a small area when you map it on the scale of a big country like Brazil, from a snail’s perspective it’s still a huge area.
References:
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009a. New malacological records from Paraná State, Southern Brazil region, with a general synthesys of current knowledge - Ellipsaria 11 (1): 11-13.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009b. New malacological records from Paraná State, Southern Brazil Region. II. Supplementary Annex. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 6-7.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009c. Endangered continental mollusks of Santa Catarina State, Southern Brazil: An Overview. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 7-8.
Agudo-Padrón, A.I., 2009d. General mollusk fauna of Rio Grande do Sul State, Southernmost Brazil Region: a Preliminary Revision Rehearsal. II. New Bibliographical Records. - Ellipsaria 11 (2): 9-10.
Simone, L.R.L., 2006. Land and freshwater molluscs of Brazil. Sao Paulo: EGB, Fapesp.
Photo of the day (68): Epiphragmophora
08-10-2009 18:36
In my previous post I mentioned species from Peru,
Dept. Cuzco, Urubamba valley. From that same area
originates this one, a species belonging to
Epiphragmophora.
Valentín Mogollón - who also supplied these pictures
- and I think it may be
E.
claromphalus
(Deville & Hupe, 1850).
A picture of a possibly related species was sent by Antoine Cleef. He had received it from a botanical student, doing fieldwork in the area of Moquegua, west of Lago Titicaca; it is well above 4000 m. I never have seen that area mentioned in literature.
Thanks Valentín and Antoine for sharing this information.
A picture of a possibly related species was sent by Antoine Cleef. He had received it from a botanical student, doing fieldwork in the area of Moquegua, west of Lago Titicaca; it is well above 4000 m. I never have seen that area mentioned in literature.
Thanks Valentín and Antoine for sharing this information.
Photo of the day (67): Bostryx
07-10-2009 21:05
The genus
Bostryx
is quite differentiated in Peru. The current list of
species is approximately 150. All available shell
shapes are represented in this genus, from
discoid,
to globose to slender and turrited. The latter shape
is e.g. found in the
Bostryx
spiculatus-complex
which occurs in Dept. Cuzco, Urubamba valley.
Valentín Mogollón sent me some pictures that he took of living specimens during a recent trip to that area. One in the natural habitat, another in the lab on the move (both pictures are enlarged).
Valentín Mogollón sent me some pictures that he took of living specimens during a recent trip to that area. One in the natural habitat, another in the lab on the move (both pictures are enlarged).
Photo of the day (66): Bostryx
05-10-2009 07:27
The more I see them, the more I think that the living
animal has characteristics that are also of
morphological and systematical value to the
taxonomist. Here you see
Bostryx
turritus
(Broderip, 1832), photographed at Catzcal.
You can see that the animal is rather translucent, with the black optical nerves shining through the body. One could wonder what the evolutionary benefit would be?
You can see that the animal is rather translucent, with the black optical nerves shining through the body. One could wonder what the evolutionary benefit would be?
Photo of the day (65): Drymaeus
02-10-2009 13:40
Another species spotted by Alexander von Bülding.
This time from near João Pessao, State of Paraiba,
Brazil.
The closest guess I can make on the basis of these photographs, is Drymaeus papyraceus (Mawe, 1823). This species is well-known from north-eastern Brazil.
The closest guess I can make on the basis of these photographs, is Drymaeus papyraceus (Mawe, 1823). This species is well-known from north-eastern Brazil.