Bourciera is a genus of neotropical terrestrial gastropod mollusks or land snails in the family Helicinidae. All species in the genus have an operculum.
In 1907, an attempt was made to rename the genus Pseudhelicina, sometimes corrected to Pseudohelicina, on the basis of the fact that Bourciera was also the name of a genus of birds, but according to MolluscaBase this replacement was unnecessary and Bourciera is still used.Sykes, E. R. (1907). The name Bourcieria. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 7(6): 312. H. Burrington Baker considered Bourciera among the most primitive of terrestrial mollusks.Baker, H. Burrington. (1925).Anatomy of Hendersonia: A Primitive Helicinid Mollusk Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 77:273-303
Distribution The genus was initially described from Ecuador based on specimens collected by Jules Bourcier, after whom it was named. It is also known to occur in Peru.Ramírez R., Paredes C., Arenas J. (2003). Moluscos del Perú. Revista de Biología Tropical.: 51(supplement 3): 225-284.
Species Species within the genus Bourciera include: Bourciera fraseri Pfeiffer 1859Pfeiffer L. (1859). Descriptions of twenty-seven new species of land-shells, from the collection of H. Cuming, Esq. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London: 27 (385): 23–29, pls 43–44. Bourciera helicinaeformis Pfeiffer 1853Pfeiffer L. (1853). Monographia heliceorum viventium: sistens descriptiones systematicas et criticas omnium huius familiae generum et specierum hodie cognitarum.: 3. Lipsiae: Brockhaus, 1–711. Bourciera is in figs. 9a-9c. Bourciera striatula Miller 1879Miller, Konrad (1879). Die Binnenmollusken von Ecuador. Malakozoologische Blätter 26[(n. s.)]1: 117-203 Bourciera viridissima Miller 1879Miller, Konrad (1879). Die Binnenmollusken von Ecuador. Malakozoologische Blätter 26[(n. s.)]1: 117-203
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