World Congress of Malacology Antwerp ... - Unitas Malacologica

into one taxon, since they form a well defined monophyletic group, and since the characteristics that
were previously used to discriminate between the two subgenera do not appear to be synapomorphic
for either former subgenus. The phylogenetic position of A. franciscoloi remains unresolved. In
addition, a number of specific taxonomic issues are approached on the basis of the resulting
phylogeny.
Distribution of terrestrial land snails in Nepal
Budha, Prem B. 1 ; Backeljau, Thierry 2 , Naggs Fred 3
1. Centre for Biological Conservation Nepal, P.O. Box 1935, Kathmandu, Nepal
Email: prembudha@yahoo.com
2. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium,
Email: Thierry.Backeljau@naturalsciences.be
3. Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK,
Email. F.naggs@nhm.ac.uk
Nepal is part of the Himalayan Global Biodiversity Hotspot. It has a south to north altitudinal range
greater than that for any other country and an east to west transition from high to low rainfall. It has a
unique Himalayan fauna and is the meeting point of Central Asian Palaearctic, Indian and Malaysian
biotic regions. These attributes combined with a forested terrain with many limestone deposits
promise a rich and diverse land snail fauna. But the existing knowledge on distribution pattern of
poorly investigated Nepalese terrestrial land snails is inadequate. The preliminary survey reported
more than hundred species of land snails. Many species are still in the identification process. This
paper is the first attempt to show the distribution of already known Nepalese land snails.
When is a species a species? Utilizing the fossil record to investigate the morphological
disparity and taxonomic affinity of extant shell shapes within the bivalve genus Cucullaea
Buick, Devin P.
University of Cincinnati, Deparment of Geology, 500 Geo/Phys Building, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA,
Email: buickdp@email.uc.edu
Cucullaea is currently approaching extinction, with decreasing morphological range, geographic
distributionand species richness throughout the latter half of its 200 million-year-old evolutionary
history. Survivors of this once prolific bivalve genus are found today living throughout the Indo-
Pacific, yet because the morphologies represented throughout the region grade into one another,
without any separate, distinct species serving as an independent reference, the number of extant
species comprising the group has fluctuated from one to four depending on taxonomic opinion.
Against this backdrop, well-preserved, extinct species within the globally-distributed fossil record of
Cucullaea provide a deep-time perspective on the taxonomic affinity of the extant forms by serving
as reference points for studying inter- and intraspecific variation in shape. Utilizing these extinct
morphologies, the current study aims to address: 1) whether a quantitative analysis of shell shape
recognizes distinct, present-day morphological groups; 2) how the amount of intraspecific
morphological variation in extinct species compares to the extant species; and 3) how lessons learned
about morphological and geographic transitions in Cucullaea’s geologic past may be applied to
understanding the persistence of the presentday forms. To accomplish these goals, traditional,
landmark and outline analyses were conducted using digitized specimens housed within museum
collections throughout the United States. This combined approach of utilizing multiple morphometric
techniques provides a robust assessment of shape by capturing different sources of morphological
disparity, examining shell characteristics considered to be taxonomic (e.g., the hinge plate) and/or
ecophenotypic (e.g., overall outline shape) in nature. Morphometric results identify a diverse set of
shapes among overlapping, regional groups of extant individuals in morphospace.
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