Moriarty Science Seminar: “LOCUS TYPICUS: ASIA MINOR, Journeys in Turkey to Locate Type Localities of Land Snails”

R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: “LOCUS TYPICUS: ASIA MINOR, Journeys in Turkey to Locate Type Localities of Land Snails”

Speaker: Aydin Örstan, Carnegie Museum of Natural History

This event will take place Monday, November 21 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Turkey (Türkiye) has a rich land snail fauna with many endemic species. A number of endemics, some dating from the late 18^th century and some from a few decades ago, were described from obscure places. The location from where a species was first described, its type locality, is a significant piece of information in the identity of the species. Ongoing discoveries of new species and taxonomic revisions make it necessary to determine the type localities of older species. This is especially urgent in the face of continuing habitat loss. Relocating of type localities is a challenging and rewarding activity often requiring input from geographical and historical sources and ultimately necessitating confirmation from field trips, sometimes to remote places. Some of the type localities we have searched for and located are those of Isaurica lycia, a large snail common in southwestern Turkey, and several Albinaria species. A noteworthy destination during our travels was the small village of Üçağız at the Mediterranean coast. Üçağız was the type locality of five species the German malacologist Johannes Roth described in 1839 and is also close to the type localities of three more recently described species.

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