Towards a monophyletic genus Albinaria (Gastropoda, Pulmonata): The first molecular study into the phylogenetic position of eastern Albinaria species

Recent molecular phylogenetic studies of the terrestrial snail genus Albinaria have caused a radical reassessment of its taxonomy. These studies, however, were limited to western species. This paper examines mitochondrial 12S sequences and nuclear ITS1 & 2 sequences of both eastern and western species, and demonstrates that Albinaria, in its most recent definition, is not monophyletic. Both molecular datasets place ‘Albinaria’hedenborgi from Lebanon in a well-supported clade with species of the genus Cristataria, distributed south-east of the vicariant range of Albinaria. The remaining species from Cyprus, Turkey and Greece constitute a well-supported monophyletic group. These two clades form geographical clusters, whereas Albinaria in the current definition (including ‘A.’ hedenborgi) has a disjunct distribution. ‘A.’ hedenborgi should therefore be classified with Cristataria, together with the morphologically similar and geographically close ‘A.’ nadimi.