Otala is a genus of large air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Helicidae. Archaeological recovery in Morocco indicates the exploitation of this genus by ancient Romans. This genus of snail is native to northwestern Africa and southwestern Europe. These snails create and shoot love darts as part of their courtship and mating behavior. The Pulmonata, or "pulmonates", are an informal group (previously an order, and before that a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group includes many land and freshwater families, and several marine families.