title: GENETIC DIFFERENTIATION AND SHELL MORPHOLOGY OFTROCHULUS OREINOS(WAGNER, 1915) ANDT. HISPIDUS(LINNAEUS, 1758) (PULMONATA: HYGROMIIDAE) IN THE NORTHEASTERN ALPS.
abstract: Trochulus oreinos oreinosandT. oreinos scheerpeltziare two land snail taxa endemic to the Northeastern Austrian Alps, which have been regarded as subspecies of the highly variable, widespread land snailT. hispidus. We analysed these three taxa morphologically and genetically to evaluate whether a delimitation between them is possible and, if so, to resolve their phylogenetic relationships. Shell morphological results revealed high similarity between the twoT. oreinostaxa, and that they are clearly separated fromT. hispidus. Additionally, theT. oreinossubspecies concur with respect to their habitat preferences, as they are both restricted to rocky high alpine areas, whereas the local form ofT. hispidusis distributed over a wider altitudinal range in moist areas and scrubby perennial herb vegetation near water bodies. While the morphological and ecological results allow clear differentiation betweenT. hispidusandT. oreinosonly, analyses of the mitochondrial cytochromecoxidase subunit I and 16S rRNA genes revealed high sequence divergences between all three taxa, which indicates that they represent old lineages. The twoT. oreinostaxa appear as distantly related sister groups, well separated fromT. hispidus. WhetherT. o. oreinosandT. o. scheerpeltzishould be considered as species cannot be decided at the current state of knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Duda
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Helmut
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sattmann
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria ; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haring
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria ; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bartel
authors.affiliation: Konrad Lorenz Institute for Comparative Ethology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Savoyenstraße 1A, A-1160 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harl
authors.affiliation: Museum of Natural History Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Luise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kruckenhauser