Research Training Program Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History PROJECT SUMMARY 1995
Philip Matthew Gottshall Moravian College Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Douglas H. Erwin, Ph.D. Research Scientist Department of Paleobiology
"There is nothing quite like a program which combines primary research, museum training and introductory information into a wide array of scientific ideas and subjects. It's the ability to learn along with the world's greatest researchers and a great variety of people from all backgrounds that glues the entity together."
THE GENUS AMPHISCAPHA (GASTROPODA: EUOMPHALIDAE): A PHYLOGENETIC EVALUATION
ABSTRACT

Amphiscapha is a small discoidal gastropod found in the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and the Permian stretching from western Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa to southwestern Pennsylvania. A total of 12 species have been previously described. Based on a mixture of qualitative and morphometric characters, a single tree was found which shows the phylogeny of Amphiscapha to be polyphyletic. This work presents evidence for four new species as well as the movement of A. subquadratus Meek and Worthen to the sister taxon Cylicioscapha. The analysis covers A. catelloides, A. dextrata, A. elleri, A. giganteus, A. hollingsworthi, A. muricatus, A. oketoensis (?), A. proxima, A. reedsi), A. subquadratus, A. subrugosus, A. subsulcatus, and as outgroups C. texana, Straparollus cornudanus, S. intermedius, S. konobasis and S. variabilis.

This research was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, Award Number BIR-9300225.

Letter of Gratitude