''Oreohelix'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of air-breathing

land snail A land snail is any of the numerous species of snail that live on land, as opposed to the sea snails and freshwater snails. ''Land snail'' is the common name for terrestrial gastropod mollusks that have shells (those without shells are known as ...

, a

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includ ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the family

Oreohelicidae Oreohelicidae is a family of small to medium-sized air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Punctoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). Anatomy In this famil ...

. ''Oreohelix'' is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nominal f ...

for the family Oreohelicidae. There are about 79 species in this genus. They are native to the western United States, especially the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

Great Basin The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic basin, endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja California ...

, and

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

Species

Species within the genus ''Oreohelix'' include: *'' Oreohelix alpina'' – alpine mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix amariradix'' – Bitter Root mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix anchana'' – Ancha mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix barbata'' – bearded mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix californica'' – Clark mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix carinifera'' – keeled mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix concentrata'' – Huachuca mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix confragosa'' – Pinos Altos mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix elrodi'' – carinate mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix eurekensis'' – Eureka mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix hammeri'' – Seven Devils mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix handi'' – spring mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix haydeni'' – lyrate mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix hendersoni'' – pallid mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix howardi'' – Mill Creek mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix idahoensis'' – costate mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix intersum'' – Deep Slide mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix jaegeri'' – Kyle Canyon mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix jugalis'' – Boulder Pile mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix junii'' – Grand Coulee mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix magdalenae'' – Magdalena mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix metcalfei'' – Black Range mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix nevadensis'' – Schell Creek mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix peripherica'' – Deseret mountainsnail ** ''Oreohelix peripherica peripherica'' (Ancey, 1881) ** ''Oreohelix peripherica wasatchensis'' (Binney, 1886) *'' Oreohelix pilsbryi'' – Mineral Creek mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix pygmaea'' – pygmy mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix socorroensis'' – Socorro mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix strigosa'' – rocky mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix subrudis'' – subalpine mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix swopei'' – Morgan Creek mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix tenuistriata'' – thin-ribbed mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix vortex'' – vortex banded mountainsnail * '' Oreohelix waltoni'' – lava rock mountainsnail *'' Oreohelix yavapai'' – Yavapai mountainsnail

Species

References

Further reading