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Differences in physiological tolerance between co-existing taxa of the Madeiran land snail genus Heterostoma measured under controlled humidity and rainfall
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posted on 2023-06-08, 07:13 authored by Paul G Craze, Lesley A LaceThe Madeiran land snail genus Heterostoma contains two taxa distinguished by differences in genital anatomy: one has full hermaphroditic genitalia (euphallic) while the other lacks the distal male organs (hemiphallic). Snails from the Madeiran islands of Porto Santo and Ilheu de Cima were kept under controlled conditions differing in humidity and simulated rainfall. There were four treatments: (1) low humidity, no rainfall; (2) low humidity, rainfall; (3) high humidity, no rainfall; (4) high humidity, rainfall. For snails from Porto Santo there were viability differences between taxa under all treatments such that hemiphallics were most viable under treatment 1 and euphallics were more viable under all other treatments. There were no signicant differences between taxa taken from Ilheu de Cima. This may be a real effect or the result of smaller sample size or a combination of both. Under all conditions, both taxa from both islands show a time-dependent reduction in viability in response to rainfall. Taxa from Porto Santo also respond differently to humidity with hemiphallics surviving for less time than euphallics at high humidity. These results are interpreted as showing a difference in physiological tolerance between taxa from Porto Santo with respect to humidity. It is suggested that this ecological difference may have been a factor in the divergence of the taxa, perhaps through interaction with genital anatomy variation. No rm conclusions can yet be drawn regarding samples taken from Ilheu de Cima.
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Publication status
- Published
Journal
Journal of ZoologyISSN
0952-8369Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell (for The Zoological Society of London)External DOI
Volume
256Page range
17 - 24Department affiliated with
- Biology and Environmental Science Publications
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- No
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- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06Usage metrics
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