Phylogenetic Relationships of Lower Salmon River Oreohelix: The Haydeni Cluster
Faculty Mentor Information
Christine Parent and Mason Linscott
Presentation Date
7-2017
Abstract
The Lower Salmon River (LSR) is an endemic hotspot for one of the most taxonomically and morphologically diverse assemblages of land snails in North America: Idaho endemic land snails of the genus Oreohelix. Recently, we have observed evidence of range retraction and colony extirpation for many species, potentially resulting from anthropogenic events (Solem 1975; Frest and Johannes 1997). In particular, the species that are part of the haydeni cluster have extremely limited distributions compared to other species complexes in the LSR and may therefore be the most threatened group. My project seeks to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships between the two known species (O. h. perlexa and O. h. hesperia) and two potential new species (O. undescribed species 8 and 24) to either confirm or contest the current haydeni cluster taxonomy outlined by a previous report by Frest and Johannes (1997). I predict O. undescribed species 8 may be a separate species of its own, given that the snail it most closely resembles (O. barbata) is over 500 miles away. Due to its similarities with other shell shapes, I hypothesize that O. undescribed species 24 is a variant of a previously described species rather than a species of its own.
Phylogenetic Relationships of Lower Salmon River Oreohelix: The Haydeni Cluster
The Lower Salmon River (LSR) is an endemic hotspot for one of the most taxonomically and morphologically diverse assemblages of land snails in North America: Idaho endemic land snails of the genus Oreohelix. Recently, we have observed evidence of range retraction and colony extirpation for many species, potentially resulting from anthropogenic events (Solem 1975; Frest and Johannes 1997). In particular, the species that are part of the haydeni cluster have extremely limited distributions compared to other species complexes in the LSR and may therefore be the most threatened group. My project seeks to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships between the two known species (O. h. perlexa and O. h. hesperia) and two potential new species (O. undescribed species 8 and 24) to either confirm or contest the current haydeni cluster taxonomy outlined by a previous report by Frest and Johannes (1997). I predict O. undescribed species 8 may be a separate species of its own, given that the snail it most closely resembles (O. barbata) is over 500 miles away. Due to its similarities with other shell shapes, I hypothesize that O. undescribed species 24 is a variant of a previously described species rather than a species of its own.