''Sonorella allynsmithi'' (syn. ''Maricopella allynsmithi'')NatureServe. 2014
''Maricopella allynsmithi''.
NatureServe Explorer. Version 7.1. Accessed September 9, 2014. is a species of land snail in the subfamily Helminthoglyptinae. It is native to

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in the United States.''Sonorella allynsmithi''.
Invertebrate Abstracts, Arizona Game and Fish Department. This snail has a shiny, rounded, grayish to brownish white shell up to 1.9 centimeters wide. The body is dark gray to black with copper flecks along the skirt and tail tip. It is

hermaphroditic In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have s ...

, with both partners usually becoming fertilized during mating. The snail lays its eggs in moist conditions, and may retain its eggs until rain falls. The eggs have calcite crystals in their capsules, sometimes enough to form a shell around the egg. The snail consumes plant and fungal matter in the soil. The snail lives on rocky mountain slopes, taking shelter in talus and rockslides. During the dry conditions common in its habitat, the snail seals its shell aperture to solid rock to avoid desiccation. The rock should be rich in calcium carbonate, which the snail uses to form its shell. It is associated with local plant species such as

saguaro cactus The saguaro (, ) (''Carnegiea gigantea'') is a tree-like cactus species in the monotypic genus ''Carnegiea'' that can grow to be over tall. It is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and the Whipple Mountains ...

(''Carnegiea gigantea''), yellow paloverde (''Parkinsonia microphylla''),

brittlebush ''Encelia farinosa'' (commonly known as brittlebush, brittlebrush, or incienso), is a common desert shrub of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It has a variety of historical uses. Description Brittlebush grows up to tall, w ...

(''Encelia farinosa''), foxtail brome (''Bromus madritensis''),

Natal grass ''Melinis repens'' is a species of grass known by the common names rose Natal grass, Natal red top, or simply Natal grass. It is native to southern Africa and an introduced species, often considered a noxious weed, on other continents such as N ...

(''Melinis repens''),

creosote bush ''Larrea tridentata'', called creosote bush and greasewood as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and ''gobernadora'' (Spanish for "governess") in Mexico, due to its ability to secure more water by inhibiting the growth of nearby plants. In S ...

(''Larrea tridentata''), and

Coulter's lupine ''Lupinus sparsiflorus'' (Coulter's lupine) is a species of lupin native to North America. In the United States it occurs in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, and in Mexico it is found in Baja California and Sonora. Other common names inc ...

(''Lupinus sparsiflorus''). This species was described from a specimen collected in the city of

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

. It occurs in the mountains of

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

References

External links

Sonorella Natural history of Arizona Gastropods described in 1969 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Helminthoglyptidae-stub