Pulmonata Explained
Pulmonata or pulmonates is an informal group (previously an order, and before that, a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families.
The taxon Pulmonata as traditionally defined was found to be polyphyletic in a molecular study per Jörger et al., dating from 2010.
Pulmonata are known from the Carboniferous period to the present.[1]
Pulmonates have a single atrium and kidney, and a concentrated symmetrical nervous system. The mantle cavity is on the right side of the body, and lacks gills, instead being converted into a vascularised lung. Most species have a shell, but no operculum, although the group does also include several shell-less slugs. Pulmonates are hermaphroditic, and some groups possess love darts.[2]
Linnean taxonomy
The taxonomy of this group according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Ponder & Lindberg, 1997) was as follows:
Order Pulmonata Cuvier in Blainville, 1814 - pulmonates
- Suborder Systellommatophora Pilsbry, 1948
- Suborder Basommatophora Keferstein in Bronn, 1864 - freshwater pulmonates, pond snails
- Suborder Eupulmonata Haszprunar & Huber, 1990
- Infraorder Acteophila Dall, 1885 = formerly Archaeopulmonata
- Superfamily Melampoidea Stimpson, 1851
- Infraorder Trimusculiformes Minichev & Starobogatov, 1975
- Infraorder Stylommatophora A. Schmidt, 1856 - land snails
- Subinfraorder Orthurethra
- Superfamily Achatinelloidea Gulick, 1873
- Superfamily Cochlicopoidea Pilsbry, 1900
- Superfamily Partuloidea Pilsbry, 1900
- Superfamily Pupilloidea Turton, 1831
- Subinfraorder Sigmurethra
- Superfamily Acavoidea Pilsbry, 1895
- Superfamily Achatinoidea Swainson, 1840
- Superfamily Aillyoidea Baker, 1960
- Superfamily Arionoidea J.E. Gray in Turnton, 1840
- Superfamily Buliminoidea Clessin, 1879
- Superfamily Camaenoidea Pilsbry, 1895
- Superfamily Clausilioidea Mörch, 1864
- Superfamily Dyakioidea Gude & Woodward, 1921
- Superfamily Gastrodontoidea Tryon, 1866
- Superfamily Helicoidea Rafinesque, 1815
- Superfamily Helixarionoidea Bourguignat, 1877
- Superfamily Limacoidea Rafinesque, 1815
- Superfamily Oleacinoidea H. & A. Adams, 1855
- Superfamily Orthalicoidea Albers-Martens, 1860
- Superfamily Plectopylidoidea Moellendorf, 1900
- Superfamily Polygyroidea Pilsbry, 1894
- Superfamily Punctoidea Morse, 1864
- Superfamily Rhytidoidea Pilsbry, 1893
- Superfamily Sagdidoidera Pilsbry, 1895
- Superfamily Staffordioidea Thiele, 1931
- Superfamily Streptaxoidea J.E. Gray, 1806
- Superfamily Strophocheiloidea Thiele, 1926
- Superfamily Trigonochlamydoidea Hese, 1882
- Superfamily Zonitoidea Mörch, 1864
- ? Superfamily Athoracophoroidea P. Fischer, 1883 = Tracheopulmonata
- ? Superfamily Succineoidea Beck, 1837 = Heterurethra
2005 taxonomy
The taxonomy of this group according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005) was as follows:
Informal Group Pulmonata
Contains the informal group Basommatophora and the clade Eupulmonata
Informal Group Basommatophora
Contains the clade Hygrophila
Clade Eupulmonata
Contains the clades Systellommatophora and Stylommatophora
Contains the subclades Elasmognatha, Orthurethra and the informal group Sigmurethra
other Sigmurethra
Two superfamilies belongs to clade Sigmurethra, but they are not in the limacoid clade.
2010 taxonomy
Jörger et al. (2010) analyzed major groups within the Heterobranchia using genetic data and found that Pulmonata as traditionally defined was polyphyletic, for instance some pulmonates were more closely related to Sacoglossa and Acochlidia. They proposed the more inclusive taxon Panpulmonata to unite the clades Siphonarioidea, Sacoglossa, Glacidorboidea, Pyramidelloidea, Amphiboloidea, Hygrophila, Acochlidia and Eupulmonata.[3]
Further reading
- Wade . C. M. . Mordan . P. B. . Clarke . B. . 10.1098/rspb.2000.1372 . A phylogeny of the land snails (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) . Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences . 268 . 1465 . 413–422 . 2001 . 11270439 . 1088622 .
- Holznagel . W. E. . Colgan . D. J. . Lydeard . C. . 10.1016/j.ympev.2010.09.021 . Pulmonate phylogeny based on 28S rRNA gene sequences: A framework for discussing habitat transitions and character transformation . Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution . 57 . 3 . 1017–1025 . 2010 . 20920591. 2010MolPE..57.1017H .
External links
Notes and References
- (in Czech) Pek I., Vašíček Z., Roček Z., Hajn. V. & Mikuláš R. 1996. Základy zoopaleontologie. Olomouc, 264 pp., .
- Book: Barnes, Robert D. . 1982 . Invertebrate Zoology . Holt-Saunders International . Philadelphia, PA. 377. 0-03-056747-5.
- Jörger. Katharina M. Stöger, Isabella . Kano, Yasunori . Fukuda, Hiroshi . Knebelsberger, Thomas . Schrödl, Michael . On the origin of Acochlidia and other enigmatic euthyneuran gastropods, with implications for the systematics of Heterobranchia. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 2010. 10. 1. 323. 10.1186/1471-2148-10-323. 20973994. 3087543 . free . 2010BMCEE..10..323J .
