Heather Kostick, BEES PhD student, Drexel University

Patterns of Diversity and Vagility of Jamaican Terrestrial Mollusks

There are over 500 species of Jamaican land snails, and although their taxonomy is well-studied, there is little known about their natural history and ecology. My research aims are to better understand the biogeography, diversity, and ecology of Jamaican land snails, specifically the operculate family Annulariidae and pulmonate family Pleurodontidae in order to address conservation concerns. My talk will be focusing on the distribution of terrestrial mollusks in Jamaica and how that may relate to their vagility (ability of an organism to move within its environment) with a focus on Jamaican annulariids and pleurodontids.