''Pseudofusulus varians'' is a species 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

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 in the family Clausiliidae. Genus ''Pseudofusulus'' is monotypic genus (contains one species only) with ''Pseudofusulus varians'' as its type species. It is a relict species from

Atlantic period The Atlantic in palaeoclimatology was the warmest and moistest Blytt–Sernander period, pollen zone and chronozone of Holocene northern Europe. The climate was generally warmer than today. It was preceded by the Boreal, with a climate similar t ...

of the Holocene, inhabiting exclusively nature

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and scree forests in Europe.

Distribution

The distribution of this species is Eastern Alpine and Western Carpathian. The type locality is the High Alps in

Styria Styria (german: Steiermark ; Serbo-Croatian and sl, ; hu, Stájerország) is a state (''Bundesland'') in the southeast of Austria. With an area of , Styria is the second largest state of Austria, after Lower Austria. Styria is bordered to ...

, Austria. The key area of its range is in the Western Alps (from the south-western part of the Alps to Croatia, and also to the Dolomites in the southern Tyrol). * Austria * Germany * Czech Republic – 7 confirmed sites in Ore Mountains in Bohemia, locally extinct in Moravia. Already

Vojen Ložek Vojen was the third of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the (also mythical) founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj. The names of the princes were first recorded in Cosmas chroni ...

has been calling for the effective conservation of this species in the 1980s. Ložek V. (1985). "Z červené knihy našich měkkýšů – je ohrožen vřetenec horský?". '' Živa'' 33: 221. It is one of the most endangered species in the Czech Republic, restricted to hidden and undisturbed natural deciduous forests. Originally it was known from 16 sites in the Ore Mountains (Krušné Hory Mts.), in the northwestern Bohemia, Czech Republic and one site on the slope of Smrk Mount in the

Moravian-Silesian Beskids The Moravian-Silesian Beskids (Czech: , sk, Moravsko-sliezske Beskydy) is a mountain range in the Czech Republic with a small part reaching to Slovakia. It lies on the historical division between Moravia and Silesia, hence the name. It is part o ...

(Moravskoslezské Beskydy Mts.), East Moravia, Czech Republic. ** extinct in Moravia: The forest at the only (but well populated) locality in the Moravia has been seriously damaged by air pollution from factories (such as

Třinec Iron and Steel Works Třinec Iron and Steel Works (TŽ) ( cs, Třinecké železárny, pl, Huta trzyniecka) is a producer of long rolled steel products in Třinec, Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic. TŽ produces over a third of all steel produced in the Cze ...

and others) jointly with the 20 °C dropping of temperatures in

inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...

on 31 December 1978. The nearly all pollution-damaged stand died out at the southwestern slope on the Smrk Mount. ** in Bohemia: The occurrence of the snail was recently confirmed only at seven sites in the Krušné Hory Mts. Remaining sites were destroyed due to human impacts, mainly

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

s and insensitive forest management mainly due to removal of dead wood and

clearcutting Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/ logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of fore ...

. Therefore, its populations survived only in forest patches hidden in hardly accessible places. * Slovakia – in the eastern part of Low Tatras, in the peak level of

Poľana Poľana is a small mountain range in central Slovakia. It lies in the north-eastern part of the Slovak Central Mountains. The highest hill is Poľana - an inactive stratovolcano - at 1,458 m (4,873 ft) ASL. The mountain range is bordered by Slov ...

, Klenovský Vepor Mount in the

Vepor Mountains Vepor Mountains ( sk, Veporské vrchy) are a mountain range in Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland ...

Muránska planina Muránska planina (translated as Muráň Plateau or Muráň Plain) is a plateau-like region in central Slovakia, between Brezno, Červená Skala (part of Šumiac), Muráň and Tisovec. It lies in the Spiš-Gemer Karst, in the Slovenské rudohorie ...

and the Ondrejsko in Slovak Paradise is the easternmost. All of these records in the Slovakia are coming from 1960s–1970s and there has been no verification since. * Croatia * Italy * and others Pseudofusulus varians shell

Description

The shell is horny or greenish brown and finely ribbed. The shell has 9–10

whorls A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

. The apertural margin is detached. Columellaris is deep inside and forked, hardly visible in a perpendicular view. Palatal wall is white and prominent. There is no lunula. Subcolumellaris is very close to basal furrow, visible in an oblique view. Clausilium is not very concave. The width of the shell is 2.2–3 mm. The height of the shell is 9–12 mm.

Habitat

''Pseudofusulus varians'' is very exacting on the quality of its

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and its populations are small and quite scattered in the whole of its

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

. It lives in virgin-like forests Lacina A. & Horsák M. (2009)
"Jak se vede vřetenatci horskému – z červené knihy našich měkkýšů"
Is the land Snail ''Pseudofusulus varinas'' Doing Well? From the Czech Republic's Red Book of Molluscs" ''Živa'', Praha LVII(2): 73–74
English abstract
and

old-growth forest An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

with fallen dead wood ( coarse woody debris) in montane and

submontane Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

. It is found in humid and shady habitats in woods, under ground litter and stones, in mountains. In the Czech Republic it is strictly associated with trees, restricted to undisturbed and hardly accessible natural

forests. ''Pseudofusulus varians'' is strictly dendrophilous species, so the main threat is dead wood removing and

. As it is endangered in the whole Europe, it is very important to protect its modern sites.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the reference"Species summary for ''Pseudofusulus varians''"
AnimalBase, last modified 23 March 2011, accessed 27 April 2011. and CC-BY-3.0 text from the reference Lacina A. (2011). "Poznámky k ekologii, rozšíření a ochraně vřetence horského (''Pseudofusulus varians'') v České republice. otes to the ecology, distribution and protection of Pseudofusulus varians in the Czech Republic. '' Malacologica Bohemoslovaca'' 10: 18–23
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External links

* {{Taxonbar, from2=Q7254795, from1=Q21229962 Clausiliidae Gastropods described in 1828 Monotypic gastropod genera