Vertiginidae
| Vertiginidae Temporal range: Upper Paleocene-recent[1] | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A live individual of Vertigo moulinsiana | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Pupilloidea |
| Family: | Vertiginidae Fitzinger, 1833 |
| Diversity[1] | |
| 93–95 species | |
Vertiginidae, common name the whorl snails, is a family of minute, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs or micromollusks in the superfamily Pupilloidea.[2]
Distribution
The distribution of the Vertiginidae is in the Northern Hemisphere: North America (60 species), Eurasia (30 species), North and central Africa (3-5 species).[1] That gives a total of approximately 93-95 species.
Ecology
Snails in this family inhabit habitats ranging from forests to semi-open and open habitats with various different kinds of substrate cover, vegetation and humidity.[1] They feed on microflora - bacteria and fungi - growing on dead and living plants.[1]
Taxonomy
The following three subfamilies were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):[2]
- Subfamily Vertigininae Fitzinger, 1833
- Tribe Vertiginini Fitzinger, 1833
- Tribe Truncatellinini Steenberg, 1925 - synonyms: Truncatellininae; Columellinae Schileyko, 1998
- Subfamily Gastrocoptinae Pilsbry, 1918 - synonyms: Hypselostomatinae Zilch, 1959; Aulacospirinae Zilch, 1959
- Subfamily Nesopupinae Steenberg, 1925 - synonym: Cylindrovertillidae Iredale, 1940
Genera
Genera in the family Vertiginidae include:
Subfamily Vertigininae
Tribe Vertiginini
- Vertigo O. F. Müller, 1773 - the type genus of the family Vertiginidae[2]
Tribe Truncatellinini
- Columella Westerlund, 1878 - column snails[2]
- Truncatellina Lowe, 1852 - the type genus of the tribe Truncatellinini[2]
Subfamily Gastrocoptinae
- Aulacospira Möllendorff, 1890[2]
- Gastrocopta Wollaston, 1878 - the type genus of the subfamily Gastrocoptinae[2]
- Hypselostoma Benson, 1856[2]
Subfamily Nesopupinae
- Cylindrovertilla O. Boettger, 1881[2]
- Nesopupa Pilsbry, 1900 - the type genus of the subfamily Nesopupinae[2]
- Staurodon Lowe, 1852
Subfamily ?
- Bothriopupa Pilsbry, 1898[3]
- Bothriopupa tenuidens (C. B. Adams, 1845)[3]
- Campolaemus Pilsbry, 1892
- Sterkia Pilsbry, 1898 in Pupillidae[4] / or in Vertiginidae[3]
References
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference.[1]
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Family summary for Vertiginidae. AnimalBase, last modified 03-09-2006, accessed 23 June 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Bouchet P., Rocroi J.-P., Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology (Hackenheim, Germany: ConchBooks) 47 (1-2): 1–397. ISBN 3-925919-72-4. ISSN 0076-2997.
- 1 2 3 "Mollusca". Diversidad Biológica Cubana, accessed 23 March 2011.
- ↑ Sterkia clementina. NatureServe Explorer, accessed 1 August 2010.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vertiginidae. |