Molecular phylogeny of the Orthalicoidea land snails: Further support and surprises

PLoS One. 2023 Jul 26;18(7):e0288533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288533. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

The superfamily Orthalicoidea comprises approximately 2,000 species of terrestrial gastropods, mostly concentrated in the Neotropics but also present in southern Africa and Oceania. We provide a multi-marker molecular phylogeny of this superfamily, reassessing its family- and genus-level classification. We exclude two families from the group, Odontostomidae and Vidaliellidae, transferring them to Rhytidoidea based on their phylogenetic relationships as recovered herein. Two new families are recognized herein as members of Orthalicoidea, Tomogeridae and Cyclodontinidae fam. nov. The family Megaspiridae and the subfamily Prestonellinae are paraphyletic but are retained herein for taxonomic stability. The subfamily Placostylinae is synonymized with Bothriembryontinae. The new genera Alterorhinus gen. nov. and Sanniostracus gen. nov. containing some Brazilian species are described here to better reflect the phylogeny. The fossil record and paleobiogeographic history of the group is explored under the new phylogenetic framework.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Africa, Southern
  • Animals
  • Brazil
  • Humans
  • Phylogeny
  • Snails* / genetics

Grants and funding

This study was partially funded by an Academic Grant of the Conchologists of America (USA; https://conchologistsofamerica.org/) to RBS. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study.