''Thapsia'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of air-breathing
land snails,
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 gastropod 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 ...
s in the subfamily
Sheldoniinae of the family
Urocyclidae.
[MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=996919 on 2022-09-24]
Distribution
Species in this genus are found in tropical western Africa, from
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠...
to
Gabon
Gabon (; ; snq, Ngabu), officially the Gabonese Republic (french: République gabonaise), is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, it is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the nort ...
.
Description
Species attributed to the genus ''Thapsia''
sensu lato
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
have shell diameters ranging from about 15 to 30 mm, with 5½-6½
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 ...
. These rather featureless dextral shells are characterized by a low
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
and their yellow to brown color. The spiral
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
of the postembryonic shell is slender. In some larger * The sculpture of the radial ribs is formed crosswise (like the letter X) or beadlike. The foot shows a long
caudal horn.
Species
''Thapsia'' was originally designated in 1860 by German zoologist
Johann Christian Albers
Johann Christian Albers (13 March 1795, Bremen – September 1857, Stuttgart) was a German physician and malacologist.
During his career, he served as ''Medicinalrath'' and ''Regierungsrath'' in Berlin. As a zoologist, he was the taxonomic auth ...
as a
subgenus of ''Nanina''
Gray, 1834, non Risso, 1826.
This genus is a heterogeneous assemblage. Because the shell characters of this genus converge with those of the larger specimens of some closely related genera (''
Saphtia'' Winter, 2008,
''
Pseudosaphtia'' Winter, 2008
and ''
Vanmolia'' Winter, 2008
), the delimitation of * To ''Thapsia'' s.l. is difficult. There very few papers that describe the anatomical features of this genus.
Thapsia contains the following species:
* ''
Thapsia abyssinica''
(Jickeli, 1873)
* ''
Thapsia aranea''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia bartaensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia buchholzi''
Bourguignat, 1885
* ''
Thapsia buraensis''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia cavernicola''
d'Ailly, 1910
* ''
Thapsia cinnamomeozonata''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia columellaris'
' (L. Pfeiffer, 1849)
* ''
Thapsia consobrina''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia consueta
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Accessed through: W ...
''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia conuloidea''
Preston, 1911
* ''
Thapsia curvatula
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Accessed through: W ...
''
E. von Martens, 1897
* ''
Thapsia decepta''
E. A. Smith, 1899
* ''
Thapsia densesculpta''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia depressior''
(E. A. Smith, 1890)
* ''
Thapsia ebimimbangana''
Winter, 2008
* ''
Thapsia elgonensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia eminiana''
(E. A. Smith, 1890)
* ''
Thapsia eremias''
(Melvill & Ponsonby, 1896)
* ''
Thapsia eucosmia''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia exasperata''
Preston, 1910
* ''
Thapsia gereti''
Preston, 1910
* ''
Thapsia glomus''
(E. von Martens, 1860)
* ''
Thapsia grandis''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia hanningtoni''
(Smith, 1890)
* ''
Thapsia inclinans''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia indecorata''
(Gould, 1850)
* ''
Thapsia inflata''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia innocens''
Preston, 1910
* ''
Thapsia insimulans''
E. A. Smith, 1899
* ''
Thapsia insulsa
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Accessed through: W ...
''
Preston, 1910
* ''
Thapsia iridescens''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia kampalaensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia karamwegasensis''
Germain, 1923
* ''
Thapsia kibonotoensis''
d'Ailly, 1910
* ''
Thapsia kigeziensis''
(Preston, 1913)
* ''
Thapsia lasti''
(E. A. Smith, 1890)
* ''
Thapsia leroyi''
Grandidier, 1887
* ''
Thapsia magna''
Thiele, 1933
* ''
Thapsia majendooensis''
(Connolly, 1928)
* ''
Thapsia marsabitensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia masakaensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia masukuensis''
E. A. Smith, 1899
* ''
Thapsia microleuca''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia microsculpta''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia millestriata''
(Preston, 1912)
* ''
Thapsia mime''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia mukandaensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia mukulensis''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia multistriata''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia nemorum''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia nyikana''
E. A. Smith, 1899
* ''
Thapsia oleosa''
(L. Pfeiffer, 1850)
* ''
Thapsia oscitans''
Connolly, 1925
* ''
Thapsia pallidior''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia paucispirata
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Acce ...
''
Thiele, 1933
* ''
Thapsia pinguis''
(Krauss, 1848)
* ''
Thapsia pompholyx''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia punctata''
Thiele, 1933
* ''
Thapsia radiata''
d'Ailly, 1910
* ''
Thapsia rosenbergi''
Preston, 1909
* ''
Thapsia rufescens''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia rufocincta''
(Connolly, 1941)
* ''
Thapsia rutshuruensis''
Pilsbry, 1919
* †''
Thapsia senutae''
Pickford, 2019
* ''
Thapsia silvaepluviosae''
d'Ailly, 1910
* ''
Thapsia simulata''
E. A. Smith, 1899
* ''
Thapsia snelli''
Connolly, 1925 [https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/1056994459 Thapsia snelli]
* ''
Thapsia stanleyvillensis''
Pilsbry, 1919
* ''
Thapsia submixta''
Germain, 1935
* ''
Thapsia tribulationis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia tricolor''
(Connolly, 1925)
* ''
Thapsia troglodytes''
(Morelet, 1848) - the
type species
In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...
, originally described as ''Helix troglodytes''
Morelet, 1848
* ''
Thapsia uluguruensis
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial animal, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Acce ...
''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia unguinosa''
Pollonera, 1898
* ''
Thapsia urguessensis''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia usambarensis''
Verdcourt, 1982
* ''
Thapsia usitata''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia vernhouti''
(Preston, 1913)
* ''
Thapsia vestii''
(Jickeli, 1873)
* ''
Thapsia wieringai
''Thapsia'' is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Sheldoniinae of the family Urocyclidae. MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Thapsia E. von Martens, 1860. Accessed through: Worl ...
''
de Winter, 2008
* ''
Thapsia woodhousei''
(Preston, 1914)
* ''
Thapsia yalaensis''
Germain, 1923
* ''
Thapsia zambiensis''
Pilsbry, 1919
Synonyms
* ''Thapsia calamechroa''
(Jonas, 1843): synonym of ''
Saphtia calamechroa''
(Jonas, 1843) (superseded combination)
* ''Thapsia calamichroa''
(Jonas, 1843): synonym of ''
Saphtia calamechroa''
(Jonas, 1843) (invalid; incorrect subsequent spelling)
* ''Thapsia chrysosticta''
(Morelet, 1867): synonym of ''
Apothapsia thomensis''
(Dohrn, 1866)
* ''Thapsia euriomphala''
Bourguignat, 1883: synonym of ''Thapsia abyssinica''
(Jickeli, 1873)
* ''Thapsia germaini''
Connolly, 1925: synonym of ''
Apothapsia thomensis''
(Dohrn, 1866)
* ''Thapsia gerstenbrandti''
(Preston, 1914): synonym of ''Thapsia elgonensis''
(Preston, 1914) (junior synonym)
* ''Thapsia mixta''
E. A. Smith, 1899: synonym of ''Thapsia pinguis''
(Krauss, 1848)
* ''Thapsia rumrutiensis''
Preston, 1911: synonym of ''
Afroguppya rumrutiensis''
(Preston, 1911) (original combination)
* ''Thapsia sjoestedti''
d'Ailly, 1896: synonym of ''
Vanmolia sjoestedti''
(d'Ailly, 1896) (original combination)
* ''Thapsia thomensis''
(Dohrn, 1866): synonym of ''
Apothapsia thomensis''
(Dohrn, 1866)
References
* Bank, R. A. (2017). Classification of the Recent terrestrial Gastropoda of the World. Last update: July 16th, 2017.
External links
Albers, J. C. & Martens, E. von. (1860). Die Heliceen nach natürlicher Verwandtschaft systematisch geordnet von Joh. Christ. Albers. Ed. 2. Pp. i-xviii, 1-359. Leipzig: EngelmanWinter, A. J. de. (2008). Redefinition of Thapsia Albers, 1860, and description of three more helicarionoid genera from western Africa (Gastropoda, Stylommatophora). Zoologische Mededelingen 82(41): 441–477
{{Commons category
Urocyclidae