Selected desert snails

October 30, 2029.

This and the desert snail complex pages will be updated with photographs of living specimens from Type localities, historical collections, personal communications, and new sites.  I will also be posting images of the verge for the sake of comparison and work with Miller and Pilsbry's definition of the complex.  Molecular evidence will also be brought forth. I will attempt to quantify aspects of the secondary reproductive structures to allow for cluster analysis to complement traditional qualitative assessment.

Malacological study involves many subdisciplines. I will pursue information from as many sources as possible to erect a framework that describes the interrelationships of snails within the complexes. All of this will feed into phylograms, and we can map those to elucidate evolutionary hypotheses, which for me is the icing on a very delicious cake. How did this little thing get to where it is now and what adaptations enable it to survive? Is the species a recent addition, in which case we might expect evidence of strong selective pressure, or archaic in which case many traits are generally shared, or fixed, across many species and complexes.

It is wonderful to discover species, laborious to describe them, and thoroughly enjoyable to sit at my computer and ponder their phylogeny with a hot cup of Mocha and the kids laughing in the background over whatever it is they are doing at that moment.

October 29, 2026.

This page is being chunked into species complexes.

Within central Arizona there are at least five Sonorella species complexes in addition to Eremarionta.  A complex is a collection of closely related species or morphotypes that describe a lineage.  The name a complex is given is technically based upon its earliest named species... unless I don't like it, and I use the name that inspires me  to do the work. Ergo, Superstitionis complex vs Rooseveltiana. There are perhaps two dozen species awaiting description in my collection. I have given names to several of them pending publication. These are populations that have been dissected and sequenced thus far.

Sonorella superstitionis complex

S. rooseveltiana

S. fragilis

S. superstitionis

S. taylori

S. interfluminea sp. nov.

S. allynsmithi

Sonorella ashmuni complex

Sonorella ashmuni

S. compar

S. coltoniana

S. tortuovirgata sp. nov.

Sonorella ambigua complex

S. ambigua

S. micromphala

S. carefreeensis sp. nov.

Sonorella bradshavaena complex

S. bradshavaena

S. russelli

S. melicochlearea sp. nov.

S. longicochlearea sp. nov.

Sonorella galiurensis complex

S. galuirensis superioris

Mojave Desert

Eremarionta rowelli

October 19, 2026.

I keep making promises and I can't keep up. Note to self: Stop that.

This is a living document. One of the promises I make is sending photos of snails to fellow snail nerds. It is an innocent enough promise, one that I regret making because something else a bit more important pops up and must be squashed. Sharing pictures of talussnails is best done here. I am killing many birds with one stone. The birds should be very thankful for this simple gift, and I will feel better, too. Kumbayah.

At some point I will extract portions of this to make self-contained species accounts formatted in such a way they can be printed to a pdf and distributed for reasons.

I made a lovely poster years ago, I worked very hard to make it, and it resides at redbubble for you to behold its majestic majesty:

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/14237158

I believe my cousin Anne purchased a mug and I believe the late Barry Roth acquired a poster as well. Redbubble offers a 24"x36" framed poster which I have, and it's beautiful, if I do say so myself. Should you have enough money to buy a cup of coffee or help fill a tank of gas, why not treat yourself to the most beautiful poster of desert snails in the history of mankind, in the form factor of your desires? A pillow to cuddle up with, a cup of joe, a poster. You help yourself and behold nature's secrets. What's not to like?

Below please find photographs of desert snails. Included but not limited to Sonorella and Eremarionta. Microsnails like Chaenaxis tuba are in there. I have included photos of shells if that's all I have for a species, as placeholders. Other species that I consider "Central Arizona" will be in a bucket list at bottom. I'm still working out what it means to be from Central Arizona, but for the sake of simplicity, I define it two ways: a day trip from my home in north Phoenix, and more concretely as a 100 km radius centered on the intersection of West Washington Street and North Central Avenue, downtown Phoenix. I don't always stick within the radius and just drive where I want. I'll thank you for turning a blind eye to that.