Pagodulina pagodula
Encyclopedia
Pagodulina pagodula is a species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of minute land snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

, a terrestrial
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

 pulmonate gastropod mollusk, or micromollusk
Micromollusk
A micromollusk is a descriptive term for a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also reach adult size at very small...

, in the family Orculidae
Orculidae
Orculidae is a family of mostly minute, air-breathing, land snails; terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the order Pulmonata.- Taxonomy :...

, and the superfamily Pupilloidea
Pupilloidea
The Pupilloidea are a superfamily of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial gastropod mollusks in the informal group Orthurethra.-Taxonomy:This superfamily contains the following families:*Family Pupillidae*Family Argnidae*Family Chondrinidae...

.

Pagodulina pagodula is the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 of the genus Pagodulina.

The genus and the species name both mean little pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...

, a reference to the shape of the shell.

Shell description

The shells of this snail species are minute, about 3 mm in height, barrel-shaped or skep-shaped, with a flared and somewhat ear-shaped aperture.

Distribution

Distribution of this species is Alpine
Alpine climate
Alpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....

. The species occurs in the following countries:
  • Poland - critically endangered
    Critically endangered
    Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

     in southern Poland
  • Slovakia
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