Basic Information About Mountainsnails

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What animal walks on one foot and eats with their foot? Basic Information About Mountainsnails Lusha Tronstad Invertebrate Zoologist Wyoming Natural Diversity Database University of Wyoming Mountainsnails (Oreohelix) • Largest terrestrial snails in Wyoming (~1 inch diameter) • Mainly in mountainous areas • Break down organic matter • Food for many predators • Small mammals, reptiles, etc. • Water conservation vital to survival • Aestivate during dry summer periods • Active during wet, cool periods • Need calcium to make their shell Life History Information • Hermaphrodites • Unknown if they can self-fertilize • Carry young internally • Snails are born at ~2.5 whorls Mountainsnails in Wyoming • ~9 taxa of Oreohelix in Wyoming • 2 endemic subspecies • 4 taxa were petitioned for Endangered Species Act listing • Taxonomy needs revision • Use internal anatomy to identify species Petitioned Mountainsnails • Oreohelix strigosa cooperi • Black Hills • Oreohelix carinifera • Montana and possibly Wyoming • Oreohelix pygmea • Bighorn Mountains • Oreohelix yavapai • Bighorn Mountains Information Needs • Basic information lacking • How long do they live? • How quickly do they grow? • How far can they move? Mark & Recapture Study • Oreohelix subrudis in Snowy Mountains • Began 2011 • Marked 97 individuals • Snail polish • Unique markings to identify individuals • Measured • Mass • Shell height • Shell width • Whorls • Status • Distance moved Mark & Recapture Study • Used bee tags starting in 2012 • Easier identification • Longer lasting • Annual site visits • Search for marked snails • Mark new juvenile snails Results • Marked 292 individuals since 2011 • Recaptured 41% of individuals • 11% of individuals died • 2% died from predation • Life span at least 5 years Mass (grams) Shell width (mm) Annual movement (meters/year) Shell width (mm) Snails moved 2.6 meters on average 0.25 meters/month 3 meters/year Growth = ln (WF/WI)/∆time ) 1 - Midge growth = 0.1-0.6 per day Growth (day Growth Mean Individual Mass Future directions • Continue to follow Oreohelix population • Use Program MARK for further analysis • Investigate taxonomy using genetics and morphology Questions and Thanks! Funding Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wyoming Governor's Office .

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Oreohelices of Utah, I. Rediscovery of the Uinta Mountainsnail, Oreohelix Eurekensis Uinta Brooks, 1939 (Stylommatophora: Oreohelicidae)
Western North American Naturalist Volume 60 Number 4 Article 13 10-31-2000 Oreohelices of Utah, I. Rediscovery of the Uinta mountainsnail, Oreohelix eurekensis uinta Brooks, 1939 (Stylommatophora: Oreohelicidae) George V. Oliver Utah Natural Heritage Program, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah William R. Bosworth III Utah Natural Heritage Program, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Salt Lake City, Utah Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan Recommended Citation Oliver, George V. and Bosworth, William R. III (2000) "Oreohelices of Utah, I. Rediscovery of the Uinta mountainsnail, Oreohelix eurekensis uinta Brooks, 1939 (Stylommatophora: Oreohelicidae)," Western North American Naturalist: Vol. 60 : No. 4 , Article 13. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/wnan/vol60/iss4/13 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Western North American Naturalist Publications at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Western North American Naturalist by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Western North American Naturalist 60(4), © 2000, pp. 451–455 OREOHELICES OF UTAH, I. REDISCOVERY OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINSNAIL, OREOHELIX EUREKENSIS UINTA BROOKS, 1939 (STYLOMMATOPHORA: OREOHELICIDAE) George V. Oliver1 and William R. Bosworth III1 ABSTRACT.—Oreohelix eurekensis uinta had not been found since its original discovery and had never been reported as a living taxon, and this had led to speculation that it is extinct. However, searches for O. e. uinta had been confounded by multiple errors in the original definition of the type locality. The type locality has now been relocated and is here redefined, and O.
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Phylogeography and Trematode Parasitism of Oreohelix Land Snails in Southern Alberta
PHYLOGEOGRAPHY AND TREMATODE PARASITISM OF OREOHELIX LAND SNAILS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA ZACHARIAH WILLIAM DEMPSEY BSc, Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, 2014 A Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Lethbridge in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF SCIENCE Department of Biological Sciences University of Lethbridge LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, CANADA © Zach W. Dempsey, 2017 PHYLOGEOGRAPHY AND TREMATODE PARASITISM OF OREOHELIX LAND SNAILS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA ZACHARIAH WILLIAM DEMPSEY Date of Defence: June 07, 2017 Dr. Theresa Burg Associate Professor Ph.D. Co-supervisor Dr. Cameron Goater Professor Ph.D. Co-supervisor Dr. Hester Jiskoot Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee member Dr. Robert Laird Associate Professor Ph.D. Thesis Examination Committee member Dr. Kathleen Weaver Assistant Professor Ph.D. External, Thesis Examination Committee University of La Verne California, U.S.A. Dr. Tony Russell Associate Professor Ph.D. Chair, Thesis Examination Committee ABSTRACT Modern studies in phylogeography integrate many once-disparate scientific fields. This study investigated terrestrial mountain snails, Oreohelix spp., in southern Alberta using DNA markers and the recent emergence of the trematode parasite Dicrocoelium dendriticum. Large-bodied snails in Cypress Hills (CH) and the Rocky Mountains (RM) formed three clades within the species complex O. subrudis. One was geographically widespread, one was restricted to one region in the RM, and one was restricted to CH. Small-bodied snails in CH were determined to be O. cooperi, a rare Oreohelid thought to be imperilled in the western U.S.A. Phylogeographic analyses determined that snails likely colonized and came into contact in CH due to its glacial history.
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Download Vol. 46, No. 3
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Oreohelix Land Snails of Heart Mountain Ranch and Tensleep Preserve, Wyoming
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Describing the Mountainsnails (Oreohelix Sp.) of Grand Teton Nati 94
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Oreohelix Strigosa) Bridget Chalifour1* and Jingchun Li1,2
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Oreohelix N. Sp. 1 Conservation Assessment
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(Pyrgulopsis Robusta), Harney Lake Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis Hendersoni), and Columbia Springsnail (Pyrgulopsis New Species 6) As Threatened Or Endangered
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Final Report, the Xerces Society, Blue Mountains Terrestrial Mollusks Surveys
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298 Museum of Paleontology, the University of Michigan, Ann A
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 43 (1983): 261--298 261 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands PALEOECOLOGY OF AN EARLY EOCENE MAMMALIAN FAUNA FROM PALEOSOLS IN THE CLARKS FORK BASIN, NORTHWESTERN WYOMING (U.S.A.) DALE A. WINKLER 1 Museum of Paleontology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (U.S.A.) (Received November 30, 1982; revised version accepted April 20, 1983) ABSTRACT Winkler, D. A., 1983. Paleoecology of an early Eocene mammalian fauna from paleosols in the Clarks Fork Basin, northwestern Wyoming (U.S.A.). Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclim- matol., Palaeoecol., 43: 261--298. The paleoecology and depositional history of an early Eocene vertebrate assemblage dominated by small mammals is analyzed at a richly fossiliferous locality in the Willwood Formation, northwestern Wyoming. Systematic surface sampling using a quadrat net, screen washing, and quarrying of fresh sediment show that all vertebrate material in these fluvial deposits is contained in dark gray mudstones representing the A horizons of paleo- sols. Seven such paleosols occur in 22 m of stratigraphic section. The fauna includes 34 species of mammals, and also birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes and gastropods. All verte- brate fossil material is fragmented, but it shows no evidence of transportation or current sorting. Surface weathering and possibly carnivore activity are responsible for the frag- mentation and for an overabundance of dense and compact skeletal elements. Detailed surface collections were made to obtain multiple samples from the different bone beds (paleosols). Principle component analysis shows that differences in the type and abundance of fossils from the various collecting areas are related to differences between contained bone beds, not differences along single bone beds.
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Analysis of Rocky Mountain Snail (Oreohelix Sp.) Dietary Preference Michael R
Analysis of Rocky Mountain snail (Oreohelix sp.) dietary preference Michael R. Bernard and Joseph S. Wilson Utah State University - Tooele Abstract Rocky Mountain snails in the genus Oreohelix go mostly unnoticed beneath layers of leaf litter in the western Mountain ranges. These snails are most common in rocky foothill habitat that consists of high-density deciduous groves of maple and oak. It is in this habitat where a great number of unobserved feeding behaviors occur. While some research indicates that terrestrial snails may prefer to feed on living plants, it is thought that Oreohelix are detritivores, feeding primarily on decomposing plant matter. In this study we investigated Oreohelix diet by designing a food preference experiment. We provided two food sources (Boxelder maple leaf litter and fresh Romaine lettuce) to groups of 10 snails. Dietary preference was determined by collecting and examining fecal matter. Our results indicate that Oreohelix preferred leaf litter over fresh greens. This study provides an insight into the lesser-known ecology of Oreohelix snails and may aid in future conservation efforts as their habitat continues to be threatened by development. Introduction Figure 3. Oreohelix fecal samples showing color differences of food sources. • Rocky Mountain Snails are pulmonate terrestrial gastropods in the genus Oreohelix. They belong to Results the Phylum Mollusca: Class Gastropoda: Order Stylommatophora: Family Oreohelicidae. Due to the • The analysis of fecal materials clearly demonstrate that Oreohelix significantly lack of recent studies of the group, the current taxonomy of the genus is in need of revision. preferred to feed on leaf litter (p = 0.049 Fig.
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