Megalobulimus

Megalobulimus
Megalobulimus parafragilior
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Heterobranchia

clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Eupulmonata
clade Stylommatophora
informal group Sigmurethra

Superfamily: Acavoidea
Family: Strophocheilidae
Subfamily: Megalobuliminae
Leme, 1973
Genus: Megalobulimus
K. Miller, 1878[1]

Megalobulimus is a genus of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Megalobuliminae within the family Strophocheilidae (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).

Megalobulimus is the type genus of the subfamily Megalobuliminae.

Species

Species within the genus Megalobulimus include (all species from Brazil are listed):[2]

Human use

Shells of terrestrial snails, mainly of the genus Megalobulimus, are found in fluvial shellmound (called sambaqui in Brazil) on the Capelinha archaeological site from paleoamerican culture of early Holocene.[5]

The shell of Megalobulimus sp. (local name: "churito") is used in the traditional ethnomedicine of Northwest Argentina when babies are hyperactive and cannot sleep well, then it is advised to put a shell under a pillow.[6]

References

  1. Miller K. (1878). Malak. Bl. 25: 172.
  2. (Portuguese) Norma Campos Salgado & Arnaldo C. dos Santos Coelho. (2003). "Moluscos terrestres do Brasil (Gastrópodes operculados ou não, exclusive Veronicellidae, Milacidae e Limacidae)". Revista de Biología Tropical 51(Suppl. 3): 149-189. PDF. (with English abstract)
  3. Simone, L. R. L. (2012). "Taxonomical study on a sample of pulmonates from Santa Maria da Vitória, Bahia, Brazil, with description of a new genus and four new species (Mollusca: Orthalicidae and Megalobulimidae)". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 52 (36): 431–439.
  4. Fontenelle, J. H.; Cavallari, D.C.; Simone, L.R.L. "A new species of Megalobulimus (Gastropoda, Strophocheilidae) from Brazilian shell mounds" (PDF). Strombus 21 (1-2): 30–37.
  5. Eggers S., Parks M., Grupe G. & Reinhard K. J. (2011). "Paleoamerican Diet, Migration and Morphology in Brazil: Archaeological Complexity of the Earliest Americans". PLoS ONE 6(9): e23962. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023962.
  6. Hilgert N. I. & Gil G. E. (2007). "Reproductive medicine in northwest Argentina: traditional and institutional systems". Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 3: 19. doi:10.1186/1746-4269-3-19.

Further reading

External links

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