''Macrocyclis'' 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 n ...

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 es ...

s in the family

Macrocyclidae Macrocyclidae is a family of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Acavoidea The Acavoidea are a taxonomic superfamily of air-breathing land snails and slugs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod ...

. ''Macrocyclis'' is a

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

, i.e. a genus that contains only one

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

. The single living species in this genus is ''Macrocyclis peruvianus'' (Lamarck, 1822).

Distribution

''Macrocyclis peruvianus'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to Chile and adjacent parts of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

. In Chile this is the largest species of land snail and it is found between the latitudes of 35° and 45° S, especially in the coastal regions, and in the

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

valleys.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1307128 Acavidae Molluscs of Argentina Molluscs of Chile Monotypic gastropod genera Valdivian temperate rainforest