Helix (gastropod)
| Helix Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Helix pomatia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Stylommatophora |
| Family: | Helicidae |
| Subfamily: | Helicinae |
| Tribe: | Helicini |
| Genus: | Helix Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
| Helix pomatia | |
| Synonyms | |
|
see text | |
Helix is a genus of large, air-breathing land snails native to the western Palaearctic and characterized by a globular shell.
It is the type genus of the family Helicidae, and one of the animal genera described by Carl Linnaeus at the dawn of the zoological nomenclature.
Members of the genus first appeared in the fossil record during the Miocene.
Well-known species include Helix pomatia (Roman snail, Burgundy snail, or edible snail) and Helix lucorum (Turkish snail). Cornu aspersum (garden snail), though externally similar and long classified as a member of Helix (as "Helix aspersa"), is not closely related to Helix and belongs to a different tribe of Helicinae.