Malacofauna of the Forum Romanum and adjacent ancient Roman monuments

Abstract

Land snail assemblages found among the most famous and popular historical monuments of an-cient Rome are the subject of this study. Malacocoenoses found beneath walls of ruins in antique places, among grass and other short vegetation, in places visited by thousands of tourists, are usually ignored by natu-ralists and thus are only rarely examined. They develop in specific habitats, being under constant and strong human impact. The living fauna is accompanied by thanacocoenoses composed of numerous shells. Species associated with open or even xerothermic habitats as well as mesophile ones, accepting both sunny and shaded habitats, are the main components of these assemblages.