''Aspa marginata'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the a ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Bursidae The Bursidae, common name "frog snails" or "frog shells", are a rather small taxonomic family of large sea snails, marine gastropod predatory snails in the clade Littorinimorpha. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Bursidae Thiele, 1925. Ac ...

, the frog shells.GBIF
/ref>

Description

Shells of ''Aspa marginata'' can reach a size of . These shells are quite thick, beige in color, with a smooth surface, a deep

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is d ...

and a short spire.

Distribution

This marine species occurs in Western Africa, Senegal and Canary Islands. Aspa marginata 01

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

of Italy and France to the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million year ...

of Namibia and Spain (age range: from 15.97 to 0.781 million years ago). Fossilworks
/ref>

Cultural aspects

The

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

ized shells have been valued by humans and

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an Extinction, extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ag ...

s.Peresani, Marco, et al.:
An ochered fossil marine shell from the Mousterian of Fumane Cave, Italy.
' PLoS ONE 8.7 (2013): e68572.

Bibliography

* Bernard, P.A. (Ed.) (1984). ''Coquillages du Gabon hells of Gabon'. Pierre A. Bernard: Libreville, Gabon. 140, 75 plates * Gofas, S.; Afonso, J.P.; Brandào, M. (Ed.). (S.a.). ''Conchas e Moluscos de Angola = Coquillages et Mollusques d'Angola. hells and molluscs of Angola'' Universidade Agostinho / Elf Aquitaine Angola: Angola. 140 pp. * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification.'' Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213 * Rolán E., 2005. ''Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.''

References

External links

Conchology

Bursidae Gastropods described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin {{Bursidae-stub