Functional connectivity in replicated urban landscapes in the land snail (Cornu aspersum).

Urban areas are highly fragmented and thereby exert strong constraints on individual dispersal. Despite this, some species manage to persist in urban areas, such as the garden snail, Cornu aspersum, which is common in cityscapes despite its low mobility. Using landscape genetic approaches, we combined study area replication and multiscale analysis to determine how landscape composition, configuration and connectivity influence snail dispersal across urban areas.

Refining the biogeographical scenario of the land snail Cornu aspersum aspersum: Natural spatial expansion and human-mediated dispersal in the Mediterranean basin.

The land snail Cornu aspersum aspersum, native to the Mediterranean region, has been the subject of several anatomical and molecular studies leading to recognize two divergent lineages, named "East" and "West" according to their geographical distribution in North Africa. The first biogeographical scenario proposed the role of Oligocene paleogeographic events and Quaternary glacial refugia to explain spatial patterns of genetic variation. The aim of this study was to refine this scenario using molecular and morphometric data from 169 populations sampled across Mediterranean islands and continents.

Movement propensity and ability correlate with ecological specialization in European land snails: comparative analysis of a dispersal syndrome.

Intra- and interspecific differences in movement behaviour play an important role in the ecology and evolution of animals, particularly in fragmented landscapes. As a consequence of rarer and generally more fragmented habitat, and because dispersal tends to disrupt benefits brought by local adaptation, theory predicts that mobility and dispersal should be counter-selected in specialists. Using experimental data and phylogenetic comparative tools, we analysed movement propensity and capacity, as well as dispersal-related phenotypic traits, in controlled conditions in 20 species of European land snails from the Helicoidea superfamily.

Tracing the invasion of the mediterranean land snail Cornu aspersum aspersum becoming an agricultural and garden pest in areas recently introduced.

This study is the first on the genetics of invasive populations of one of the most widely spread land mollusc species known in the world, the "Brown Snail" Cornu aspersum aspersum. Deliberately or accidentally imported, the species has become recently a notorious pest outside its native Mediterranean range. We compared the spatial structure and genetic variability of invasive (America, Oceania, South Africa) versus native populations using five microsatellite loci and mitochondrial (Cyt b and 16S rRNA) genes as a first step towards (i) the detection of potential source populations, and (ii) a better understanding of mechanisms governing evolutionary changes involved in the invasion process.

Spinturnicid mites and bats cophylogeny: comment on Bruyndonckx et al. (2009) "Molecular cophylogenetic relationships between European bats and their ectoparasitic mites (Acari, Spinturnicidae)".

Recently, Bruyndonckx et al. (2009) used phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial sequences of European Spinturnicidae parasitizing bats to assess the coevolutionary relationships between host and parasite lineages. Despite being a good investigation into bat ecology and exhibiting an indisputable competence in molecular data analysis, the paper reflects a lack of knowledge of the basic biology and ecology of Spinturnicidae.

Historical biogeography of the land snail Cornu aspersum: a new scenario inferred from haplotype distribution in the Western Mediterranean basin.

Background: Despite its key location between the rest of the continent and Europe, research on the phylogeography of north African species remains very limited compared to European and North American taxa. The Mediterranean land mollusc Cornu aspersum (= Helix aspersa) is part of the few species widely sampled in north Africa for biogeographical analysis. It then provides an excellent biological model to understand phylogeographical patterns across the Mediterranean basin, and to evaluate hypotheses of population differentiation.

Phylogeography and historical demography of the Lusitanian snail Elona quimperiana reveal survival in unexpected separate glacial refugia.

Background: Present day distributions of Palearctic taxa in northern latitudes mainly result from populations having survived in local patches during the Late Pleistocene and/or from recolonizing populations from southern temperate refugia. If well-studied Mediterranean and eastern European refugia are widely accepted, some recent biogeographical assumptions still remain unclear, such as the occurrence of multiple glacial refugia in Iberia and cryptic refugia in northern Europe during the last glaciations. The Lusitanian snail Elona quimperiana has a remarkably disjunct distribution, limited to northwestern France (Brittany), northwestern Spain and the Basque Country.

Spatial genetic pattern in the land mollusc Helix aspersa inferred from a 'centre-based clustering' procedure.

The present work provides the first broad-scale screening of allozymes in the land snail Helix aspersa. By using overall information available on the distribution of genetic variation between 102 populations previously investigated, we expect to strengthen our knowledge on the spread of the invasive aspersa subspecies in the Western Mediterranean. We propose a new approach based on a centre-based clustering procedure to cluster populations into groups following rules of geographical proximity and genetic similarity.

INBREEDING AND FITNESS IN THE FRESHWATER SNAIL LYMNAEA PEREGRA: AN EVALUATION OVER TWO GENERATIONS OF SELF-FERTILIZATION.

Inbreeding depression was estimated from an outbreeding population of the freshwater snail Lymnaea peregra, on the basis of two successive generations of enforced selling and outcrossing, and 70 maternal lineages. Outcrossing was analyzed under two treatments, groups of two and five individuals. The fitness parameters measured included fecundity, growth, and survival.