Page 48 - Land Snails of New Mexico

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finding the specimens living under bark and stones and "on ground andlitter." On PecosBaldy,at11,800ft,hefoundit "underrocksinopenwoods attimberline."Inafewcases,we h a v e f o u n d it i n i g n e o u s - r o c k t a l u s a t l o w e r e l e v a t i o n s o f t h e Transition Zone.
be best assigned to a different species, as done above for Oreohelix:nogalensis.Ifsuchactionweretoseemjudicious,the name apachePilsbryandFerris,1919,isavailable.Thistaxon w a s t a k e n i n A p a c h e C o . , A r i z o n a , a n d w a s c o n s i d e r e d a " f o r m " ofO.subrudisbyPilsbry(1939:488).However,thesituationis complicated by the introduction of a name meridionalis as a subspecies of Oreohelix strigosa for an oreohelicid from the same area by Pilsbry and Ferriss (1919:324).
Oreohelix nogalensis H. A. Pilsbry, 1939. Academy of Natural of Sciences of Philadelphia Monograph, 3(1) 1:442,Fig 293.T.L.:WaterCanyononthewestslopeof
Habitat—Oreohelixsubrudishasbeentakeninawiderange of habitats. It occurs from the higher peaks of the Mogollon Mountains, Catron Co., in forests of the Canadian Life Zone, downward toaridslopesintheUpper Sonoran LifeZone, where it inhabits igneous-rock talus. In the Black Range, it is widespread in the higher forests, occurring in areas of both limestoneandigneousbedrock.Ithasbeentakenonlyinthe southern part ofthe San Mateo Mountains, occurring in rhyolitic talus, w h i c h is w i d e s p r e a d in this area.
Nogal Peak, Lincoln Co., N e w Mexico.
Pilsbry (1939:442) noted that the relatively high spire and n a r r o w u m b i l i c u s o f t h i s s n a i l h a d s u g g e s t e d t o h i m t h a t it w a s allied with O. subrudis. Instead, dissection of the genitalia showedittobeamemberoftheO.strigosagroup,towhich Pilsbry assigned it as a new subspecies. In light of the still prevailing uncertainly about the identity and relationships of s t r i g o s a a n d s u b r u d i s , it w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t f u r t h e r t a x o n o m i c
Paleontology—Oreohelix subrudis is a c o m m o n fossil in the eastern foothills of the Black Range, in areas of calcareous bedrock. Many fossils were observed in a road-cut on the northwest side of Apache Hill, ca. 0.5 mile northwest of Lake Valley (a ghost town) and about 7 miles east of the crest of the Black Range. Fossils also were numerous in salient exposures ca. 2.5 miles northeast of Kingston.
evaluation is in order. Tentatively, we treat this isolated population of large Oreohelix as a full species.
Distribution and Habitat--Oreohelix nogalensis isknown livingonlyfrom theSierraBlanca-Nogal Peak complex (=Sierra Blanca Mountains) of Lincoln Co., some 150 mi south of the nearest occurrence of O. strigosa depressa in the southern Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Specimens have been taken in canyon habitats above 7,000-ft elevation. In Water Canyon, Pilsbry (1939:442) noted that"Itlives on steep, leafy slopes with very little rock, near the canyon bed, the trees mostly maple, higher, close under the peak, itwas taken among aspens." It occurs in more open habitat in the pine-oak woodland surrounding Nogal Peak.
Oreohelix swopei H. A. Pilsbry and J. H. Ferriss, 1917. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 69:93, Pl. 9, Figs. 2, 3-3b, 13, Text-fig. 3. T.L.: Head of Morgan Creek Canyon, northern Black Range, Sierra Co., New Mexico. (Morgan Creek mountainsnail)
Paleontology—Well-preservedfossilsofO. nogalensishave been found in rubbly Pleistocene deposits along the Rio Bonito Valley at 5,500-ft elevation, about 4.4 miles southeast of Lincoln and some 28 miles east of the crest of the Sierra Blanca Mountains. Here, snails were apparently living on a limestone slope in rubble. Clearly, in the Pleistocene, the range of O. nogalensis extended a greater distance to the east and to lower elevations than at present. This fossil evidence of its relatively venerable occupation of the Sierra Blanca Mountains area provides an additional motive for treating itas a full species.
Distribution and Habitat--This enigmatic species was considered by the above authors to have shells similar to those of Oreohelix strigosa depressa. However, characters of the genitalia did not conform to those of O. s. depressa, prompting theauthorstoplaceitinanewspecies.Thesnail wastakenon the Pilsbry and Ferriss expedition to the Black Range in 1915-- in a few canyons in the northern part of the range, on both the eastern and western slopes: Morgan, Diamond Creek, and Black Canyons. In 1989, Smartt collected specimens of O. swopei in Turkey Run Canyon inthe northern Black Range. They were not abundant or easy to find. Clearly, O. swopei is a species that requires further evaluation in regard to taxonomy and distribution,especiallyastohow itmightrelatetoO. strigosa depressa or to O. subrudis. -
Oreohelix subrudis (L. A. Reeve, 1854, as Helix). Conchologia Iconica, 7, Pl. 198, Fig. 1390 a, b. T.L.: unknown. (subalpinemountainsnail)
Distribution–Pilsbry (1939:Fig. 312) mapped O. subrudis as occurring from the area of southeastern British Columbia, southwestern Alberta, northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northwestern Montana southward along the Rocky Mountains to Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado. After a hiatus of some 250 miles, an isolated outlying group of subrudis was mappedinthesouthwesternquadrantofNewMexicoandin adjacent Arizona. In N e w Mexico, w e have taken O. subrudis in the San Mateo Mountains, Black Range, and Mogollon Mountains, including mountains west of the San Francisco River Valley.Furtherworkmay showthatthissoutherngroupwould
Oreohelix pilsbryi J. H. Ferriss, 1917. The Nautilus, 30:102. T.L.: Oliver's mine on Mineral Creek, 5-6 miles above Chloride, Sierra Co., N e w Mexico. (Mineral Creek mountainsnail)
Pilsbry noted (1939:514) that this snail, bearing his patronym, was "closely related to O. metcalfei"; however, he retained it as a full species because of its distinctive shell features: the strong sculpture and higher shell with smaller umbilicus than in the O. metcalfei group, discussed below.