BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 September 2014 Hypervariable or Hyperdiverse, an Independent Assessment of the Taxonomically Confusing Land Snail Genus Tropidophora (Pomatiidae: Littorinoidea: Caenogastropoda) in Madagascar
John Slapcinsky
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The terrestrial littorinoid snail genus Tropidophora Troschel, 1847 is especially diverse on Madagascar with 94 currently recognized species and numerous named varieties. Supposed high within-species variation in shell and genital morphology led some researchers to suggest that these characters may be too variable to distinguish species, prompting them to conclude that the group may be taxonomically over-split. Recent sampling allows an independent test using COI sequence data which suggests that Madagascar's Tropidophora species are not over-named but are more diverse than previously thought. Molecular diversity is congruent with traditional morphology-based species concepts suggesting that future work using both molecular and morphological data sets will be useful in a taxonomic revision of the genus.

John Slapcinsky "Hypervariable or Hyperdiverse, an Independent Assessment of the Taxonomically Confusing Land Snail Genus Tropidophora (Pomatiidae: Littorinoidea: Caenogastropoda) in Madagascar," American Malacological Bulletin 32(2), 259-266, (1 September 2014). https://doi.org/10.4003/006.032.0217
Received: 22 October 2013; Accepted: 1 May 2014; Published: 1 September 2014
KEYWORDS
DNA barcoding
littorinoid
shell variation
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top