Title

Parsimony dictates a human introduction: on the use of genetic and other data to distinguish between the natural and human-mediated invasion of the European snail Littorina littorea in North America.

Authors

John Chapman; April Blakeslee; James Carlton; M. Renee Bellinger

Abstract

Abstract  Two centuries of historical, archaeological, paleontological, geological, oceanographical and biological data conclusively indicate that the periwinkle snail Littorina littorea was introduced to North America from Europe either by Norse explorers 1000 years ago or by European colonists after 1840. Available genetic data do not indicate ancient divergence of North American and European L. littorea and thus do not challenge all other evidence that it was introduced from Europe by humans.

Subjects

LITTORINA; INTRODUCED snails; BIOLOGICAL divergence; BIOLOGICAL invasions

Publication

Biological Invasions, 2008, Vol 10, Issue 2, p131

ISSN

1387-3547

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.1007/s10530-007-9115-z