Wichita Mountains pillsnail | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Heterobranchia |
Order: | Stylommatophora |
Family: | Polygyridae |
Genus: | Euchemotrema |
Species: | E. wichitorum |
Binomial name | |
Euchemotrema wichitorum (Branson, 1972) | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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The Wichita Mountains pillsnail (Euchemotrema wichitorum) is a species of air-breathing land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusk in the family Polygyridae. The species is endemic to Oklahoma, the United States. [1]
Euchemotrema wichitorum was first described in 1972 by Branley A. Branson as Stenotrema wichitorum. The shell varies from light tan to dark brown. It has an average diameter of 8.3 mm and an average height of 4.6 mm. [3] It is the second smallest species of its genus. [4]
It is endemic to the Wichita Mountains area in southwest Oklahoma. The type locality is located in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Originally only being known from two counties, it has now been located in seven counties in southwest Oklahoma. It favors oak dense woodlands rather than the granite boulder fields of the area. They have a fire association, and charred logs shelter more live snails than uncharred counterparts. High severity fires lead to high mortality, due to sheltered locations being burned. The charring of the wood converts less usable calcium oxalate into usable calcium ions and calcium carbonate, which is likely the reason for the fire association. [5]
The Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge protects a large amount of the range, and the refuge's regular prescribed fires are likely beneficial to Euchemotrema wichitorum. [5]
The geography of Alabama describes a state in the Southeastern United States in North America. It extends from high mountains to low valleys and sandy beaches. Alabama is 30th in size and borders four U.S. states: Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. It also borders the Gulf of Mexico.
Comanche County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 121,125, making it the fifth-most populous county in Oklahoma. Its county seat is Lawton. The county was created in 1901 as part of Oklahoma Territory. It was named for the Comanche tribal nation.
Medicine Park is a town in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States, situated in the Wichita Mountains near the entrance to the 60,000-acre (240 km2) Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge. Medicine Park has a long history as a vintage cobblestone resort town. Medicine Park is located near the city of Lawton and Fort Sill. It is an exurb, part of the Lawton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Many of the original structures are constructed of naturally formed cobblestones—these red granite cobblestones are unique to the Wichita Mountains. The population was 382 at the 2010 census.
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Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma near Lawton, has protected unique wildlife habitats since 1901 and is the oldest managed wildlife facility in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service system. The refuge's location in the geologically unique Wichita Mountains and its areas of undisturbed mixed grass prairie make it an important conservation area. The Wichita Mountains are approximately 500 million years old. Measuring about 59,020 acres (238.8 km2), the refuge hosts a great diversity of species: 806 plant species, 240 species of birds, 36 fish, and 64 reptiles and amphibians are present.
Lake Jed Johnson, named for Jed Johnson (1888–1963), is third largest of thirteen small reservoirs in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge, located in southwestern Oklahoma. Lawton, Oklahoma, southeast of the lake and the fourth largest city in the state, is the nearest major population center. Smaller communities of Cache, Medicine Park and Meers lie north of the lake.
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Euchemotrema is a genus of small, air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Polygyridae.
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