Habitat
Fumonelix wheateyli is a terrestrial snail that has only been discovered and classified in the United States of America. This species is spread out along the mountains and drainages of Tennessee to North Carolina (NatureServe 2010). They have also been found in the southern states of Alabama and Georgia. These snails are classified as a G4 species which means that they are wide spread and stable (NatureServe 2010). The occurrences of this species can be found by coming across a live snail or recent dead shells (NatureServe 2010).
The ideal habitat for these snails is in wet conditions where they dormant on logs, in leaf piles, and coves so they can keep moist (NatureServe 2010, Tennessee Rare Animal List 2009). Wet conditions are important for land snails’ ability to respire and for their young to survive once they hatch from the egg (NatureServe 2010). The areas in the southeast region of the United States provide these conditions for the Fumonelix wheatleyi because the weather is warm, wet, and humid. If these conditions do not prevail there is a low chance for survival.
Furthermore, there are several boundaries that prevent this species from spreading long distances around the United States. The snails are mainly sedentary so they rely on passive transportation to get farther distances (NatureServe 2010). Three examples of passive migration would be using birds, mammals, and insects, wind or floating on objects, and physical human transport (NatureServe 2010). Large bodies of water and large mountains provide boundaries that reduce the occurrence of random mating.
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