Page 61 - Land Snails of New Mexico

cave in Dark Canyon, southwest of Carlsbad, from the surface to a depth of two feet." (Guadalupe woodlandsnail)
E.B. Howard, who was excavatingfossiliferousdepositsin the above cave, obtained the type of A. carlsbadensis, which is almost surely a fossil, probably of Pleistocene age.
Ashmunella carlsbadensis occurs as a living species in the GuadalupeMountains,New Mexico,fromMcKittrickCanyon, along and just south of the New Mexico-Texas boundary, northward along the Guadalupe Mountain escarpment. Most collections have been taken along the lower slopes of canyon walls, where talus and deep leaf litter have accumulated. In isolated populations, the range of the species also extends northeastward into the arid foothills of the Guadalupe Mountains, where ithas been reported from Carlsbad Caverns National Park by Webb (1974). Smartt has found itin the foothills west of Carlsbad at ca. 3,610-ft elevation.
InhisdescriptionofA. salinasensis, Vagvolgyi (1974:156)
emphasized that its shell features are similar to those of A.
rhyssa altissima, which, as noted above, was more widespread in the Pleistocene and occurred on the Tularosa Basin floor at
Keen Spring.ItseemsprobablethattheSalinasPeakspecies
m a y h a v e a r i s e n f r o m a p r o p a g u l e o f A . r. a l t i s s i m a . P e r h a p s it
should be considered a subspecies ofA. rhyssa. Distribution and Habitat--Ashmunella salinasensis has
been taken only in talus accumulations of igneous rock on the higher, northern slopes of Salinas Peak. W e found it to be abundant where trees grew within or alongside the areas of talus.
Ashmunella kochii kochii G. H. Clapp, 1908. The Nautilus, 22:77, Pl. 8, Figs. 1-3. T.L.: Black Mountain, locallycalledBlack Brushy Mountain, in the southern San Andres Mountains, Doña Ana Co., New Mexico. (San Andres woodlandsnail)
Ashmunella kochiisanandresensis J.Vagvolgyi, 1974. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 87:145, Pl. 1,Fig. 3,3a. T.L.: western slope of San Andres
Ashmunella amblya cornudasensis J.Vagvolgyi, 1974.
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 87:143,Pl.1,Figs.2,2a,T.L.:WindMountainofthe Peak,DoñaAnaCo.,NewMexico. Cornudas Mountains group, Otero Co., N e w Mexico,
Thisspecieswas named asasubspeciesofA.kochiiClapp
b y Vagvolgyi (1974:143), w h o described the taxon. A t that time,
the species A. kochii was considered to include a large
Ashmunella ofthe southernmost Guadalupe Mountains in Texas,
A. kochii amblya, although the type locality of A. kochii kochii
wasintheSanAndresMountains,DoñaAnaCo.,NewMexico.
Subsequently, Metcalf and Smartt (1977:861) elevated A.
amblya to species status, recognizing two subspecies: the
nominal subspecies of the Guadalupe Mountains, Texas, and A.
amblya cornudasensis.
New Mexico Distribution and Habitat--Ashmunella
amblya cornudasensis isfound on mountains of the Cornudas group, having been taken on Chatfield, Flattop, and Wind Mountains. These peaks rise some 2,000 ft above the surroundingplain,formingaprominentclusterwhen viewedto thenorthfromtheElPaso-Carlsbadhighway. Theycomprisea small group of "montane islands," which invite studies of insular biogeography. Genetic studies of the several isolated populations of A. a. cornudasensis might prove of interest. S o m e peaks, such as Wind Mountain, are especially conical and steep sided. We assumethatthespeciesoccursonothermountainsinthe group, in addition to those already collected from, and noted above. In the arid Cornudas Mountains, A. a, cornudasensis appears to be restricted to accumulations of igneous-rock talus, the bedrock of the mountains. Here, woody plants consist of shrubs and some low junipers and live oaks, which provide sparse leaf litter.
Ashmunella kochii caballoensis J. Vagvolgyi, 1974. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 87: 148, Pl. 1, Fig. 4, 4a. T.L.: Brushy Mountain, in the Caballo Mountains, Sierra Co., N e w Mexico.
The historyoftheA. kochiicomplex isconfusing, because of the former assignment of shells from the Guadalupe Mountains, Texas,andtheCornudasMountains,New Mexico,toA.kochii. A s noted above, Metcalf and Smartt (1977:861) placed these in the species A. amblya. W e further considered A. kochii to comprisethethreesubspeciesindicatedabove: 1)thenominal race from Black Brushy and Goat Mountains in the San Andres M o u n t a i n s ; 2 ) A . k. s a n a n d r e s e n s i s V a g v o l g y i , 1 9 7 4 , f r o m S a n Andres Peak, immediately north of Black Brushy Mountain, and 3) A. k caballoensis Vagvolgyi, 1974, from the Caballo Mountains west of the San Andres Mountains. The subspecies A. kochii caballoensis has been taken living only on Brushy Mountain in the central part of the Caballo range. Fossils indicatethatA.k caballoensiswasmorewidespreadatlower
elevations of the Caballo Mountains during the Pleistocene. In the Holocene, itseemingly has suffered restriction of range to the most favorable remaining habitats, in talus at higher elevations and on north-facing canyon slopes of Brushy Mountain.
Populations of the Caballo and San Andres Mountains subspecies of A. kochii have been found in limestone talus, which provides the main available shelter in these semiarid mountains.
AshmunellaharrisiA.L.MetcalfandR.A.Smartt,1977.
Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, SpeciesofSouthernNewMexicobetweenthe 90:851.T.L.:eastsideofGoatMountaininthesouthern
Rio Grande and Tularosa Basin
San Andres Mountains, Doña Ana Co., New Mexico. (Goat Mountain woodlandsnail)
A s h m u n e l l a s a l i n a s e n s i s J. V a g v o l g y i , 1 9 7 4 . P r o c e e d i n g s
oftheBiologicalSocietyofWashington,87:154,Pl.1, AshmunellaharrisiwasnamedinhonorofDr.ArthurH.
Fig. 9. T.L.: Salinas Peak, San Andres Mountains, Socorro Co., N e w Mexico. (Salinas Peak woodlandsnail)
Harris, University of Texas at El Paso, who first collected specimens of the species.
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