Shell Morphology
The calcareous soils are essential for providing the necessary
minerals for secretion of the shell. Original documentation has the shell color of Vertigo nylanderi
listed as resembling a cinnamon color, but more thorough and recent research
notes the color as a lighter shade of yellow-brown. This species has
five
lamellae in the aperture (opening of the shell) when fully grown. It has an
angular lamella on the top of the aperture and a very small basal
(subcolumella) lamella on the left side. Two distinctive features suggest a
closer affinity to Vertigo paradoxa and Vertigo hubrichti
than any other species it shares a habitat with. Both have a very deep lower
palatal lamella and a deep groove on the outside of the shell that lies
directly over the lower palatal lamella. However, V. nylanderi also
closely resembles another species. Both it and Vertigo arthuri have
an angular lamella, a columellar lamella that is larger than the parietal,
and a more deeply set lower palatal lamella in comparison with the upper.
What separates the two is the thickened callus adjacent to the palatal
lamellae in V. arthuri. In addition, V. arthuri has a
shorter lower palatal lamella that is not as deep and a crest in the back of
the aperture (Nekola and Massart 2000).