Shell shape and environmental data for five North American land snail species

The morphological distinctness of land snail shells is almost certainly related to the unique environments in which they live. Even with the development of genetic and epigenetic tools for understanding factors contributing to phenotype, much research is focused on understanding environmental effects on land snail shell form. Most studies focus on single taxa, with review articles summarizing shared patterns and correlations of shell response to the environment. Herein we provide a dataset of shell shapes and environmental data for five species of partially sympatric North American land snail. Data are sourced from museum specimens, invaluable resources for biological and biodiversity information. We imaged, landmarked, georeferenced, and extracted environmental parameters for 3,701 land snail specimens representing five North American land snail species: Anguispira alternata, Euglandina rosea, Haplotrema concavum, Mesodon thyroidus, and Mesomphix globosus. These specimens represent mos...