Prestonella
Genus of gastropods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prestonella is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs in the family Bothriembryontidae.[4]
| Prestonella | |
|---|---|
| |
| Drawing of abapertural view of a shell of Prestonella nuptialis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Bothriembryontidae |
| Genus: | Prestonella Connolly, 1929[1] |
| Diversity[2] | |
| 3 species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Prestonellidae van Bruggen, 1978[3] (n.a.) | |
Taxonomy
Prestonellidae (as a not available name) was tentatively placed as a synonym of Aillyidae in the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005.[5] Prestonella is the type genus of the family Prestonellidae,[5] but Prestonellidae is not an available name, because it has no diagnosis.[5] Prestonella was considered as the only genus in the family Prestonellidae.[citation needed]
Herbert (2007)[2] has classified Prestonella in Bulimulidae sensu lato within Orthalicoidea.[2]
Herbert & Mitchell (2009)[6] have classified Prestonella, for which the phylogenetic relationships were previously unknown, in the superfamily Orthalicoidea.[6]
Breure et al. (2010)[7] moved Prestonella to Placostylidae,[7] that Breure & Romero (2012)[4] renamed to Bothriembryontidae.[4]
Prestonellinae was formally described as a new subfamily within Bothriembryontidae in 2016.[8] Prestonellinae contains three genera: Prestonella Connolly, 1929, Discoleus Breure, 1978 and Plectostylus Beck, 1837.[8] Prestonella is the type genus of the subfamily Prestonellinae.[8]
Distribution
This genus is endemic to South Africa[9] and Lesotho.[10] It occurs in the southern edge of the Great Escarpment in southern Africa.[2]
Prestonella has a relict distribution in the south of the southern Africa[10] and it is the only Recent African member of Bulimulidae s.l.[11] Its distribution is highly fragmented.[11]
Ecology
Prestonella lives in forest and Nama Karoo (semi-desert) biomes.[10] It is very specialized in habitat requirements and it inhabits only two types of relictual habitats: vertical-rocks above running water and moist shaded cliffs facing to the south.[11] Prestonella occurs in the elevation 838–1680 m above sea level.[10] There are two rainfall seasons in the area per year.[10] It has been found in 2011, that genetic diversity in the populations of Prestonella is lower in dryer areas.[11] Global warming would probably have serious negative impact on Prestonella species.[11]
Species
There are three[2] species in the genus Prestonella:
- Prestonella bowkeri (Sowerby, 1889) - type species,[2] synonym: Buliminus bowkeri[12]
- Prestonella nuptialis (Melvill & Ponsonby, 1894)[2]
- Prestonella quadingensis - validity of this species is doubtful.[2] Its habitat details are unknown.[11]
