Biology:Oreohelix cooperi
| Oreohelix cooperi | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Oreohelicidae |
| Genus: | Oreohelix |
| Species: | O. cooperi
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| Binomial name | |
| Oreohelix cooperi (William Binney, 1858)
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Oreohelix cooperi, also known as Cooper’s rocky mountainsnail or the Black Hills mountainsnail, is a critically endangered species of land snail that lives in the Rocky Mountain Ranges and Great Plains of North America.[2] Oreohelix cooperi is a hermaphroditic land snail that possesses low adult vagility and dispersal larvae stage.[2] Due to this spatial restriction, the decreased ability for O. cooperi to migrate leads it to being an endemic species to the Black Hills region.[3]
Physical description
Oreohelix cooperi is in the phylum Mollusca, class Gastropoda, and order Stylommatophora. Within the Oreohelix genus, there are approximately 40-70 different species of land snail.[4] Characteristics of land snails include shells that vary in height and breadth, as well as vary in roundness and flatness.[5] The parts of the shell include a body whorl, spire, and apex.[5] The size of most large mountain land snails species is >5cm.[2] For O. cooperi, differences in shell size can be attributed to environmental factors, such as varying soil calcium concentrations.[6] Differences in size of the adults could be caused by differences in average temperature as well as shell density.[6] There is little genetic structure across its geographic range.[6]
Oreohelix cooperi is hermaphroditic as are most land snails.[6] As a hermaphrodite, they possess the reproductive organs of both males and females.[7] Additionally, O. cooperi are considered ovoviviparous, which means that after fertilization and until birth, the embryos continue to grow within the adult snail.[6]
Habitat and ecology
Oreohelix cooperi lives in the Black Hills, east of the Rocky Mountains, in South Dakota and Wyoming.[2] The Black Hills region is characterized by a variety of habitats including prairie, deciduous forests, and coniferous forests.[2] This semi-arid region can maintain moisture throughout the year, which is facilitated by structural components such as down woody material.[8] The Black Hills receives its moisture from clouds coming from the west as the higher altitudes produce a rain shadow effect on the eastern slope of the range.[9] Oreohelix cooperi can occupy this region, as they prefer moist forest microhabitats with high calcium concentrations.[4]
Due to the fact that O. cooperi has low adult vagility and low dispersal at the larvae stage, they are likely to remain restricted in the Black Hills.[2] Due to this spatially restricted distribution, O. cooperi is considered an endemic species.[3] They are restricted to areas with a high concentrations of calcium, such as limestone and dolomite substrates, which allows them to maintain their shells.[3] Winters are cold, and summers are hot, as a consequence of continental climatic patterns.[9] O. cooperi is able to overwinter as well as the ability to undergo aestivation in the summer.[4]
Threats and conservation
Habitat loss is currently causing a decline in population sizes of Oreohelix cooperi.[3] Populations of O. cooperi are currently at risk due to the threats posed by fire, road-building, motorized recreation, and mining.[10] Management activities also pose a threat to populations of O. cooperi, as they could change the composition of cover provided by vegetation growth and litter, as well as ground temperature.[10] Additionally, it is also difficult to recolonize isolated populations of O. cooperi.[10] Climate change also poses a threat to O. cooperi populations, as it could lead to changes in moisture availability in the Black Forest region of South Dakota and Wyoming.[8]
Although there have been recommendations to list O. cooperi as a protected species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), it is currently not listed.[3] Oreohelix cooperi is also not listed on the IUCN Red List. Due to habitat fragmentation and degradation, population numbers of O. cooperi continue to decline.[3]
References
- ↑ "Oreohelix cooperi". NatureServe. https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.111785/Oreohelix_cooperi. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Weaver, Kathleen F.; Anderson, Tamara; Guralnick, Robert (2006). "Combining phylogenetic and ecological niche modeling approaches to determine distribution and historical biogeography of Black Hills mountain snails (Oreohelicidae)" (in en). Diversity and Distributions 12 (6): 756–766. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2006.00289.x. ISSN 1472-4642. Bibcode: 2006DivDi..12..756W. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1472-4642.2006.00289.x.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "Black Hills mountainsnail | Xerces Society" (in en). https://xerces.org/endangered-species/species-profiles/other-at-risk-invertebrates/black-hills-mountainsnail.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Dempsey, Z. W.; Burg, T. M.; Goater, C. P. (2019). "Found, forgotten, and found again: Systematics and distribution of Cooper's Rocky Mountain Snail (Oreohelix cooperi) on a Sky Island in the Canadian Prairies". Canadian Journal of Zoology 97 (9): 833–840. doi:10.1139/cjz-2018-0118. Bibcode: 2019CaJZ...97..833D. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2018-0118.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Eversham, B. (April 2018). "Identifying land snails". https://www.wildlifebcn.org/sites/default/files/2018-06/Land%20Snails%20Key%20v%202.3%20iv2018%20illustrated.pdf.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Anderson, T. K.; Weaver, K. F.; Guralnick, R. P. (2007-05-01). "Variation in adult shell morphology and life-history traits in the land snail Oreohelix cooperi in relation to biotic and abiotic factors". Journal of Molluscan Studies 73 (2): 129–137. doi:10.1093/mollus/eym006. ISSN 0260-1230. https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article-abstract/73/2/129/977687?redirectedFrom=fulltext.
- ↑ Beese, K.; Beier, K.; Baur, B. (2006-03-01). "Coevolution of male and female reproductive traits in a simultaneously hermaphroditic land snail". Journal of Evolutionary Biology 19 (2): 410–418. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.01022.x. ISSN 1010-061X. PMID 16599917.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Black Hills National Forest". Forest Service U.S. Department of Agriculture. June 2022. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1019126.pdf.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ball, J.; Erickson, D. (1992). "The Black Hills Forest". http://www.sdgs.usd.edu/naturalsource/habitats/habitats/BlackHillsForest.pdf.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Anderson, T. (19 April 2005). Oreohelix strigosa cooperi (Cooper's Rocky Mountain Snail): a technical conservation assessment (PDF) (Technical report). USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region.
Wikidata ☰ Q107030407 entry
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