Were cataloged several terrestrial species in the Azores.
The Azores archipelago has 110 species of terrestrial mollusks half of which are endemic. It is a natural laboratory that deserves the attention of scientists around the world, according to the president of the World Association of malacology, Antonio Frias Martins, who told agency lusa, "in the Azores can be observed and studied evolutionary processes" , adding that "there are still to describe in the region more than 25 species new to science." Conditions that make these islands prime location to host the next congress of malacology which will take place between 21st and 28th of July 2013 and which will bring to the region more than 400 scientists from 70 nationalities. The international meeting will be held at the University of the Azores, in S. Miguel, where Antonio Frias Martins is a teacher and researcher in the Department of Biology, spearheading several years ago an investigation into the evolution of terrestrial mollusks. For the researcher, "this meeting will put us on the map of world malacology. We will not be outermost, but the science center malacological "he said, stressing that this congress will also develop" many scientific contacts ", enriching the Azorean community and making these islets more known. He even added that," the Azorean islands, together with Madeira and the Canaries, have an advantage in terms of scientific research that results from being archipelagos away from continental areas, with different ages and spaces ", characteristics that make them very attractive to its specificity in terms of scientific studies.
