Abstract
Like many other helicid snails Cepaea nemoralis grows to a definitive adult size, at which point a lip is laid down on the edge of the mouth of the shell. The average maximum shell diameter over most of the range of the species is 20 to 22 mm, but in some regions, notably the Pyrenees, Cantabria and parts of Ireland, there are large-shelled races that reach a mean size of 24 to 30 mm. This geographical distribution has a parallel in the related species Arianta arbustorum, which is for the most part slightly smaller than the typical C. nemoralis but which reaches extremely large dimensions in some mountainous localities (see Cook 1965 where data of C. Oldham are presented). In parts of the range of C. nemoralis where dimensions fall within the typical limits there may be striking changes in mean breadth over short distances in uniform habitats (for example, Wolda 1969).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Cameron R. A. D. (1969) The distribution and variation of Cepaea nemoralis L. near Slievecarran, County Clare and County Galway, Eire. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 38, 439–450.
Cavalli-Sforza L. & Bodmer W.F. (1970) The Genetics of Human Populations. Freeman & Co., San Francisco (in press).
Di Cesnola A. P. (1907) A first study of natural selection in ‘Helix arbustorum’ (Helicogena) Biometrika5, 387–3
Cook L. M. (1965) Inheritance of shell size in the snail Arianta arbustorurn. Evolution 19, 86–94.
Cook L. M. (1967) The genetics of Cepaea nemoralis. Heredity 22, 397–410.
Cook L. M. & Peake J. F. (1960) A study of some populations of Cepaea nemoralis L. from the Dartry Mountains, Co. Sligo, Ireland. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 34, 1–11.
Cook L. M. & Peake J. F. (1962) Populations of Cepaea nemoralis L. from sand dunes on the Mullaghmore Peninsula, Co. Sligo, Ireland, with a comparison with those from Annacoona. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 35, 7–13.
Falconer D. S. (1955) Patterns of response in selection experiments with mice. Cold. Spring Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 20, 178–196.
Haldane J. B. S. (1954) The measurement of natural selection. Proc. 9th Int. Congr. Genetics. 480-487.
O’Donald P. (1968) Measuring the intensity of natural selection. Nature 220, 197–198.
O’Donald P. (1970a) Measuring the change of population fitness by natural selection. Nature Lond. 227, 307–308.
O’Donald P. (1970b) Change of fitness by selection for a quantitative character. J. Theoret. Population Biol, 1, 219–232.
Van Valen L. (1965) Selection in natural populations. III. Measurement and estimation. Evolution 19, 514–528.
Weldon W.F.R. (1901) A first study of natural selection in Clausilia laminata (Montagu). Biometrika 1, 109–124.
Wolda H. (1963) Natural populations of the polymorphic landsnail Cepaea nemoralis (L.) Arch, neerl. Zool. 15, 381–471.
Wolda H. (1967) The effect of temperature on reproduction in some morphs of the landsnail Cepaea nemoralis (L.). Evolution 21, 117–129.
Wolda H. (1969) Fine distribution of morph frequencies in the snail Cepaea nemoralis near Groningen. J. Anim. Ecol. 38, 305–327.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1971 Blackwell Scientific Publications
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cook, L.M., O’Donald, P. (1971). Shell Size and Natural Selection in Cepaea nemoralis. In: Creed, R. (eds) Ecological Genetics and Evolution. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0432-7_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0432-7_5
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0434-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0432-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive