Drouetia in CongressSymposium "Darwin"
When the “finches” are snails
António M. de Frias Martins
CIBIO-Açores, Center for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Department of Biology, University of the Azores, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal
On his way home, at the very end of the historical voyage of the Beagle, Darwin stopped by the Azores. He wrote a detailed report on the people and their living, but had nothing to say about the fauna and flora of the place, except that everything reminded him of his old England.
Yet, if Darwin were to return now, he could well find evidence of evolution, mostly in the terrestrial snails. Of the 107 described species, 45 are endemic, and there is strong evidence for 26 additional species, not yet described. This wealth of endemism is distributed throughout the nine islands in patterns closely related to the age and the volcanic activity of each island. Examples are given of distributional patterns of endemic taxa, namely of the Enidae, the Hygromiidae and the Zonitidae. Reference is made to the on-going research linking the speciation patterns in Drouetia and the theory of punctuated equilibrium. azorean terrestrial malacofauna –
A biogeographic snap-shot
Tristão da Cunha, R., P. Rodrigues & A.M. Frias Martins
CIBIO, Açores- Research Centre for Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of the Azores,
9501-800 Ponta Delgada, Açores, Portugal; e-mail: rcunha@uac.pt
Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands are the most important biodiversity centre of the bioclimatic Mediterranean region (BMR), one of the 25 hotspots of the world’s biodiversity, and their terrestrial malacofauna, with 500 endemic species, representing 1% of the world’s snail biodiversity, adds an important contribution to that status.
With fewer snail species than Madeira and the Canary Islands, the nine islands of the Azores account for 111 terrestrial species, 44% of them endemic. The Azorean malacofauna is of palaearctic origin, and has many similarities with Madeira and the Canary Islands but also shows relevant peculiarities; for example, the Zonitidae and the Enidae inhabit the Azores and the Canary Islands but are absent from Madeira. The Zonitidae are the most successful pulmonates in the Azores, with 14 endemic species, but other families, like the Hygromiidae, the Enidae, the Vitrinidae and the Lauriidae, are also well endowed with endemic species.
This study aims to characterise the terrestrial malacofauna of the Azores, its peculiarities and biogeographic affinities. Because the Azorean malacofauna is an important component of the local biodiversity and also of the BMR, it is endorsed that efforts should be made towards its preservation, through conservational approaches and management plans over target endemic species and their habitats. |
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