Additions to the knowledge of the land snails of Sabah (Malaysia, Borneo), including 48 new species
Author
Vermeulen, Jaap J.
Author
Liew, Thor-Seng
Author
Schilthuizen, Menno
text
ZooKeys
2015
531
1
139
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.531.6097
journal article
http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.531.6097
1313-2970-531-1
C845838EC9124BD8AB4E07980F91959E
Taxon classification Animalia Stylommatophora Endodontidae
Family
ENDODONTIDAE Pilsbry
Short description.
Snails. Shell small to medium-sized, dextral, conical, lenticular, or discoidal. Sculpture often rather distinct, consisting of spiral striation and/or radial
ribs
, sculpture sometimes inconspicuous or absent. Aperture with or without teeth or lamellae, peristome neither thickened nor reflected. Umbilicus closed or open, narrow or wide (Family description adapted from
Solem 1976
;
Schileyko 2001
).
Habitat and distribution.
Generally found in litter and on the vegetation. Worldwide, but particularly species-rich on the islands of and around the Pacific.
Remarks.
The status of several genera often included in this family, including the ones we discuss here (
Philalanka
and
Thysanota
), has been debated. Raheem et al. (2014) follow
Godwin-Austen (1907)
in placing these two genera in the
Thysanotinae
and follow Bouchet and Rocroi (2005) in placing this subfamily in the
Charopidae
, whereas we have here retained the endodontid placement of
Godwin-Austen (1907)
.
The endodontid genera
Philalanka
and
Thysanota
generally include small species with more or less conical shells, and often with one or more distinct spiral threads. Particularly
Philalanka
displays a wide range of shell shapes, which makes it impossible to find a diagnostic set that unequivocally distinguishes between the genera. However, we feel that including
Philalanka
,
Kaliella
and the various satellite genera into a single genus would be unjustified. This is in spite of the fact that we are in favour of genera of convenience, by necessity because in most cases our taxonomy is largely based on shells. The best we can do is to compare groups within
Philalanka
with groups within
Kaliella
which share one or two characters.
We provide a review of the Sabah species of the
Endodontidae
.