Classification

Scientific Name: Patera panselenus
Common Name: West Virginia Bladetooth
    The common name, West Virginia Bladetooth, was obtained from its anatomical structure and habitat. It is only found in the area of West Virginia. It also received its name due to its large tooth-like structure at the base of the shell (Dourson, 2010).

Domain: EukaryaThis picture of a snail found in the family Polygyridae was used with permission from The Encyclopedia of Life                                                          
    Kingdom: Animalia
       Phylum: Mollusca                                                                                                          
            Class: Gastropoda
                  Order: Stylommatophora
                        Family: Polygyridae
                              Genus: Patera
                                    Species: Patera panselenus 

 

Eukarya:
Eukarya's Latin meaning is "truly nuclear", defined as containing both a nucleus and membrane bound organelles (Hickman et al., 2011).

Animalia:
To be in the Kingdom Animalia one must be multicellular with true tissues and organs (Hickman et al., 2011). Unlike the Kingdom Plantae, Animalia lack cell walls and are heterotrophic (Hickman et al., 2011).

Mollusca:
Animals in Phylum Mollusca are soft-bodied coelomates typically contained in a calcium carbonate shell (Hickman et al.,  2011). Some Mollusks have an open circulatory system as well as a well developed sensory and nervous system (Hickman et al., 2011).

Gastropoda:
Class Gastropoda known to be the most diverse class of Mollusks (Hickman et al., 2011).  They are apart from other classes because of there 180 degree twisting of their visceral mass called torsion (Hickman et al., 2011).

Stylommatophora:
Order Stylommatophora contains snails and slugs (Hickman et al., 2011). All of which contain a vascularized mantle which then becomes an air-breathing lung (Hickman et al., 2011).

Polygyridae:
Family Polygyridae contains specifically land snails and slugs (Encyclopedia of Life, 2012). These are mainly found in eastern and western parts of northern America as well as northern central America (Encyclopedia of Life, 2012). The muscles of their retractable eyes are connected to the pharynx in a single muscle strand and their jaws are ribbed (Encyclopedia of Life, 2012).

Patera:
Patera gets its name because of the Latin meaning, saucer shaped (Encyclopedia of Life, 2012). The Latin meaning emphasizes this particular genus of snail to have a depressed saucer shaped shell (Encyclopedia of Life, 2012).

Patera panselenus:
Patera panselenus is brown in color with a glossy shine to its depressed saucer-shaped shell (Dourson, 2010). Patera panselenus's shell contains exactly five whorls (coiling twists) in its shell (Dourson, 2010). They contain a large parietal tooth as well as a small basal tooth of the shell (Dourson, 2010).

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