Taxonomic revision of the land snail genus Perpolita (Gastrodontidae: Gastropoda)

Advances in quantitative multivariate methods using data ranging from DNA-sequence patterns to physical morphology and expressed ecological niche space have allowed for development of empirical, consensus-based taxonomic decision-making (e.g., Bickford et al., 2007; K€ohler & Johnson, 2012; Tan et al., 2010). By seeing traditional taxonomic units as testable hypotheses – and by only accepting those which ultimately survive empirical confrontation across a consensus of information channels (Dayrat, 2005) – it is possible to root out spurious concepts which only exist within the minds of individual taxonomists (Nekola et al., 2022). In land snails this process has generally identified a 50% error rate in traditional concepts either through over-splitting, over-lumping, or the use of incorrect diagnostic features (Nekola & Horsak, 2022). However, unless such studies are accompanied by formal taxonomic revision, accepted nomenclature will not reflect these biological realities (Fiser et al., 2018; J€orger & Schr€odl, 2013; SchlickSteiner et al., 2010). Not formally conducting taxonomic acts thus introduces significant error into biodiversity research and limits the effectiveness of conservation planning (Mace, 2004; Raczkowski & Wenzel, 2007). Here we revise nomenclature within the land snail genus Perpolita which represents a common constituent of assemblages across the Holarctic. This is necessary given that traditional, empirically unvetted concepts within the genus possess an 80% error rate compared with consensus mtDNA and nDNA sequence (Saito et al., 2024). In the following we use an integrative approach that empirically challenges all currently accepted traditional taxonomic concepts in this genus, considering not only mtDNA and nDNA phylogenetics, but also conchometrics as well as climatic and environmental niches. We use these data to not only refine species-scale taxonomy, but also genus and subspecies level concepts. From this we formally revise the nomenclature so that it reflects biological reality.

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