The draft genome sequence of the grove snail Cepaea nemoralis.

Studies on the shell color and banding polymorphism of the grove snail Cepaea nemoralis and the sister taxon Cepaea hortensis have provided compelling evidence for the fundamental role of natural selection in promoting and maintaining intraspecific variation. More recently, Cepaea has been the focus of citizen science projects on shell color evolution in relation to climate change and urbanization. C.

Morphological and phylogenetic diversity of Waminoa and similar flatworms (Acoelomorpha) in the western Pacific Ocean.

The genus Waminoa currently contains two described species, which each contains two types of endosymbiotic algae. Waminoa individuals are basically brown in body color, derived from these algal symbionts, and their body shape has been described as "discoid to obcordate". They have been found as associates of various anthozoans (Cnidaria) in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea.

Anchored hybrid enrichment generated nuclear, plastid and mitochondrial markers resolve the Lepanthes horrida (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) species complex.

Phylogenetic relationships in species complexes and lineages derived from rapid diversifications are often challenging to resolve using morphology or standard DNA barcoding markers. The hyper-diverse genus Lepanthes from Neotropical cloud forest includes over 1200 species and many recent, explosive diversifications that have resulted in poorly supported nodes and morphological convergence across clades. Here, we assess the performance of 446 nuclear-plastid-mitochondrial markers derived from an anchored hybrid enrichment approach (AHE) coupled with coalescence- and species network-based inferences to resolve phylogenetic relationships and improve species recognition in the Lepanthes horrida species group.

The complete mitogenome of Cylindrus obtusus (Helicidae, Ariantinae) using Illumina next generation sequencing.

Background: This study describes how the complete mitogenome of a terrestrial snail, Cylindrus obtusus (Draparnaud, 1805) was sequenced without PCRs from a collection specimen that had been in 70% ethanol for 8 years. The mitogenome was obtained with Illumina GAIIx shot gun sequencing. Although the used specimen was collected relatively recently and kept in a DNA-friendly preservative (not formalin as frequently used with old museum specimens), we believe that the exclusion of PCRs as facilitated by NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) removes a great obstacle in DNA sequencing of collection specimens.

Reappraisal of the "Molecular phylogeny of Western Palaearctic Helicidae s.l. (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora)": when poor science meets GenBank.

A paper on the 'Molecular phylogeny of Western Palaearctic Helicidae s.l.', published by Steinke et al.

Using DNA-barcoding to make the necrobiont beetle family Cholevidae accessible for forensic entomology.

The beetle family Cholevidae (Coleoptera: Staphylinoidea), sometimes viewed as the subfamily Cholevinae of the Leiodidae, consists of some 1700 species worldwide. With the exception of specialized cave-dwelling species and species living in bird and mammal nests and burrows, the species are generalized soil-dwellers that, at least in temperate regions, are mostly found on vertebrate cadavers. Although they have been regularly reported from human corpses, and offer potential because of many species' peak activity in the cold season, they have not been a focus of forensic entomologists so far.

Ancient DNA elucidates the controversy about the flightless island hens (Gallinula sp.) of Tristan da Cunha.

A persistent controversy surrounds the flightless island hen of Tristan da Cunha, Gallinula nesiotis. Some believe that it became extinct by the end of the 19th century. Others suppose that it still inhabits Tristan.

Biogeography: molecular trails from hitch-hiking snails.

Darwin was fascinated by the transportation of land snails across great swathes of open ocean by birds--he even immersed snails in sea water to see how long they would survive. Here we follow a molecular phylogenetic trail that reveals the incredible transequatorial dispersal of the land snail Balea from Europe to the Azores and the Tristan da Cunha islands, and back again. This long-distance dispersal is unexpected for what are proverbially considered the most pedestrian of creatures.