| Land Snails on the Solomon Islands Vol. I Placostylidae by Andre G. J. Delsaerdt
2010, L'Informatore Piceno, ISBN 88-86070-16-4, in laminated board covers, about 8¼ by 11¾ inches (20.5 by 30.5cm) 132 pages, 14 full page color photo plates for shell identification and numerous black and white photgraphs of shells, charts, and maps in the text.
It is nice to see the increase in the number of publications covering non-marine molluscs over the past few year and this new book is certainly a welcome addition to the literature on terrestrial shells. The Solomon Islands group consists of more than 900 islands stretching over 1500km east of Papua New Guinea. Most of these islands are small and very little is known about the molluscs living on these islands. This book is a study of one family of these land snails, their dispersion, and their evolution in these islands which as with many other shells have evolved into many different forms within the same species over the years in adaptation to their differing environments. The book illustrates in its color plates and with black and white photos along with illustrations of the original type species of these shells. This work encompasses in all 33 species of shells in the Placostylidae found in the Solomons and these shells are in four genera. The discussions and description of each of these shells is done in great detail. This is an excellent work and we look forward to seeing the other books that will continue this series. |
