Sheldonia Ancey, 1887

Herbert, David G., 2017, A new genus and eight new species of tail-wagger snails from eastern South Africa, with a key to genera within Sheldonia s. l. (Gastropoda: Urocyclidae), European Journal of Taxonomy 309, pp. 1-50 : 42-43

Genus Sheldonia Ancey, 1887

Sheldonia Ancey, 1887: 53 .

Type species Helix trotteriana Benson, 1848 , by subsequent designation ( Connolly 1925: 467).

Peltatus Godwin-Austen, 1908: 131 . Type species (original designation) Helix hudsoniae Benson, 1864 ( Godwin-Austen (1912a) subsequently re-identified his type material as Vitrina aloicola Melvill & Ponsonby, 1890 , indicating that he considered this to be the type species).

Remarks

Sheldonia , like Kerkophorus , includes both arboreal and ground-dwelling species.The shells are lenticular to sub-globose, usually lustreless, and the protoconch is usually punctate. The epiphallus is of moderate length and the caecum is cylindrical, often angled, arising close to the mid-point of the epiphallus. The genital atrium frequently possesses a stimulator and the free oviduct gland is conspicuously enlarged. In addition, the spermatophore has a single tail, the spine branches end in blunt, T-shaped bifurcations, and the spineless distal portion of the tail is relatively long, with stout lateral projections on each side in its mid-region.