Pupilla alpicola facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pupilla alpicola |
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Pupilla alpicola is a tiny, air-breathing land snail. It is a type of mollusk that lives on land. These snails are also called micromollusks because they are so small. They belong to a family of snails called Pupillidae.
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About Pupilla alpicola
Scientists study living things by grouping them. This is called taxonomy. For a long time, Pupilla alpicola was often confused with another snail, Pupilla muscorum. Another similar snail, Pupilla pratensis, was first described in 1871. However, it was often thought to be just a different form of Pupilla muscorum.
Recent studies using different methods, like looking at their bodies and their DNA, showed that Pupilla pratensis is actually its own species. Before 2009, many Pupilla pratensis snails were wrongly identified as either Pupilla muscorum or Pupilla alpicola.
Some newer studies from 2012 suggest that Pupilla pratensis and Pupilla alpicola might be very close relatives. They could even be different types (subspecies) of the same widespread species.
What Pupilla alpicola Looks Like
The shell of Pupilla alpicola is a bit bigger than that of Pupilla muscorum. It has faint lines from its growth. The shell has about 6 whorls, which are the turns or spirals of the shell. These whorls are not very rounded.
The very top of the shell, called the apex, is flat. This is different from Pupilla muscorum and Pupilla pratensis. The opening of the shell, called the aperture, has a weak lip around its edge. Usually, there are no "teeth" (small bumps) inside the opening. Sometimes, there might be a very small tooth.
A special feature of Pupilla alpicola is a small groove on the outside of its last whorl. This groove looks like a gutter. You can also see it as a thin ridge inside the opening if you look closely.
This snail is similar to Pupilla loessica. Both species show similar changes in their shell shape over time. This suggests they adapted to similar changes in their environment.
The shell of Pupilla alpicola is usually about 2.8 to 3.3 millimeters (mm) tall. It is about 1.75 to 1.8 mm wide.
What Pupilla pratensis Looks Like
The shell of Pupilla pratensis is dark to brown. It is thin and you can see through it a little. It has clear, fine growth lines. This snail has 6 to 7.5 whorls, and the lines between the whorls (called sutures) are deep. The shell is long and wide.
The opening of the shell is round and has a weakly formed lip. It usually has no teeth inside. Sometimes, it might have a weak tooth on the inner wall or a very faint tooth on the outer wall.
The shell of Pupilla pratensis is about 3.5 to 4.5 mm tall. It is about 1.85 to 2.05 mm wide.
How Pupilla pratensis is Different from Pupilla muscorum
Pupilla pratensis often lives in the same places as Pupilla muscorum. However, they have some key differences:
- Pupilla pratensis has a thinner, larger, and wider shell.
- Its shell is darker and its color doesn't change as much.
- The lip around its shell opening is weaker.
- Pupilla pratensis shells are generally taller (3.48–4.54 mm) and wider (1.86–2.06 mm).
- They usually have more whorls (6.0–7.5).
- Both snails have a cylindrical shape. But in Pupilla muscorum, the whorls narrow smoothly towards the top. In Pupilla pratensis, the narrowing is more sudden, making the top look blunter.
- The whorls of Pupilla pratensis are usually more rounded, and the sutures are deeper.
- Pupilla pratensis is often a dark chestnut brown. Pupilla muscorum can be reddish brown to grayish.
- The shell surface is almost smooth in both. Pupilla pratensis shells seem thinner and can sometimes be a bit see-through.
- The growth lines are very fine in Pupilla muscorum but a bit rougher in Pupilla pratensis.
- The lip of the opening is often weak in Pupilla pratensis. It is thicker and more noticeable in Pupilla muscorum.
- Any teeth inside the opening of Pupilla pratensis are weaker. They always grow directly from the shell wall. In Pupilla muscorum, teeth can sometimes grow from a raised area.
Scientists have noticed that some Pupilla muscorum snails in Norway are larger than those in Sweden and Germany. This makes them similar in size to Pupilla pratensis. More studies are needed to understand this.
Where Pupilla alpicola Lives
Pupilla alpicola is found in the Alps and Carpathians mountain ranges. It has a scattered distribution, meaning it's not found everywhere. It is quite rare. Many of its homes are near mountain pastures where cattle graze. These habitats are now at risk because traditional ways of managing the land are changing.
Here's its status in some countries:
- Germany: Critically endangered (meaning it's very close to disappearing).
- Switzerland: Vulnerable (meaning it's at risk).
- Austria: Potentially threatened.
- Poland: Critically endangered.
- Slovakia: Its status needs to be clarified.
For a long time, Pupilla alpicola was thought to live in the Czech Republic. However, after Pupilla pratensis was recognized as a separate species in 2009, scientists realized that all the snails thought to be Pupilla alpicola in the Czech Republic were actually Pupilla pratensis. So, Pupilla alpicola does not live there.
Where Pupilla pratensis Lives
Because Pupilla pratensis was often mistaken for other snails, we don't know its full distribution yet. We expect it to be found widely, but in scattered spots, mostly in areas with chalky soil in Central, Northern, and Western Europe.
So far, it has been found in:
- Norway: In Hedmark, Oppland, and Nordland counties.
- Sweden: It's common in suitable chalky areas across the country, from south to north.
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Scotland, Great Britain: Found in 2013.
- Germany
- Poland: It was first reported over 120 years ago. The first recent finding was in 2011 in a wet area near Rowele.
- Czech Republic: As mentioned, all snails previously thought to be Pupilla alpicola here are actually Pupilla pratensis. Six groups of Pupilla pratensis have been found in the Czech Republic.
- Slovakia: One group found in the southwest.
- Bakhchysarai Raion and Sevastopol, Crimean Mountains, Crimea.
The first place Pupilla pratensis was officially identified (its type locality) is Dinkelscherben near Augsburg, Germany.
Pupilla pratensis likely also lives in Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and England. In Europe, Pupilla pratensis seems to live in northern Atlantic areas. This area does not overlap with Pupilla alpicola, which mainly lives in the Alps and Carpathians.
How Pupilla alpicola Lives
The ecology of a species is how it lives and interacts with its environment. Pupilla alpicola lives in moss in wet meadows found in high mountain regions. It prefers wet, chalky fens. In Switzerland, it lives at altitudes between 900 and 2500 meters (about 2,950 to 8,200 feet).
How Pupilla pratensis Lives
Pupilla pratensis is a specialist, meaning it needs a very specific type of home. It loves wet places and needs open, rich, often chalky, moist, and wetland habitats. In Scandinavia, it lives in chalky fens and meadows. The places it's found in Norway, like chalky fens and wet slopes with springs, match its habitat in Sweden. There, it's a common snail in open chalky fens or wet, moist chalky meadows.
In Nordland County, Norway, it lives on chalky, rocky slopes near the sea. The wet climate there might allow the snail to live in different kinds of wet places.
Sadly, these treeless chalky fens are very rare and often isolated. They are greatly threatened today. They are being drained, and changes happen when people stop mowing and grazing these areas. Because of this, finding new groups of these snails is very important for nature conservation. We need to pay close attention to the snails that are still living there.
The way Pupilla pratensis lives is similar to Pupilla alpicola.
