''Ecphora'' is a genus of

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

predatory ocenebrinid murexes indigenous to the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

n Eastern Seaboard from Miocene until their extinction during the Pliocene. The common name for this genus and a group of related genera is "

ecphora Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora (genus), E ...

"(s).

Etymology

The name "Ecphora" is Greek, meaning "bearing out." The word was originally used by Vitruvius to signify the projecture of a member or moulding of a column, and here refers to the distinctive "T-shaped" ribs that project from the shell.Oxford English Dictionary, "Ecphora" entry.

Subdivisions

As originally proposed by Petuch in 1988, ''

Trisecphora ''Trisecphora'' is a genus of extinct predatory ocenebrinid murexes indigenous to the Miocene coastline of what is now Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia from the Aquitanian epoch until their extinction near the end of the Serravall ...

'' was regarded as a subgenus of ''Ecphora'' (''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

''), as was the genus '' Latecphora''. However, further study (by Petuch) of these two subgenera lead to their promotion to genera proper. However, '' Planecphora'' Petuch 2004 was originally proposed as a full genus, but was then demoted to subgenus. Currently, ''Ecphora'' is subdivided into the subgenus ''Planecphora'', and several species complexes. Originally, the species of ''Planecphora'' consisted of the "''Ecphora choptankensis'' Species Complex" before Petuch elevated the complex to genus status.

Subgenus ''Planecphora''

*'' Ecphora (Planecphora) turneri'' (Petuch, 1988) Miocene Maryland and Virginia *''

Ecphora (Planecphora) vokesi Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' (Petuch, 1988) Miocene Maryland and Virginia *''

Ecphora (Planecphora) choptankensis Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' (Petuch, 1988) (nominate species) Miocene Maryland and Virginia *''

Ecphora (Planecphora) delicata Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' (Petuch, 1988) Miocene Maryland and Virginia *''

Ecphora (Planecphora) hertweckorum Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' (Petuch, 1987) Pliocene Florida *''

Ecphora (Planecphora) mansfieldi Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' (Petuch, 1989) Pliocene Florida

''Ecphora (sensu stricto)''

''Ecphora gardnerae'' Species Complex

*'' E. wardi'' Petuch, 1988 *'' E. calvertensis'' Petuch, 1988 *'' E. chesapeakensis'' Petuch, 1992 *'' E. williamsi'' Ward and Gilinsky, 1988 *'' E. conoyensis'' Petuch, 2004 *'' E. asheri'' Petuch, 1988 *'' E.germonae'' Ward and Gilinsky, 1988 *'' E. gardnerae gardnerae'' Wilson, 1987(nominate subspecies = ''Ecphora gardneri'') *'' E. gardnerae angusticostata'' Petuch, 1989 *'' E. whiteoakensis'' Ward and Gilinsky, 1988 *'' E. streami'' (Petuch, 1994) Pliocene *'' E. pachycostata'' (Petuch, 1989) Pliocene

''Ecphora meganae'' Species Complex

*'' E. mattinglyi'' Petuch, 2004 *'' E. sandgatensis'' Petuch, 1989 *'' E. meganae'' Ward and Gilinsky, 1988 *'' E. amyae'' Petuch and Drolshagen, 2010 *'' E. roxaneae'' Petuch, 1991

''Ecphora rikeri'' Species Complex

*'' E. harasewychi'' Petuch, 1989 *'' E. rikeri'' Petuch, 1988

''Ecphora quadricostata'' Species Complex

*'' E. floridana'' Petuch, 1989 *'' E. kochi'' Ward and Gilinsky, 1988 *'' E. quadricostata quadricostata'' (Say, 1824 (nominate subspecies = ''Ecphora quadricostata'') *'' E. quadricostata rachelae'' Petuch, 1988 *'' E. striatula'' Petuch, 1986 *'' E. umbilicata'' Petuch, 1986

Evolution

''Ecphora'' is derived from the slightly older ''Trisecphora'', diverging during the Langhian epoch. The oldest species is '' E. wardi'', found in the Plum Point Member of the Calvert Formation. Later during the Miocene, daughter genera, in the form of ''Latecphora'', and '' Globecphora'', and ''Planecphora'' split off during the early Pliocene, persisting in a coral atoll in what is now the

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of tropical climate, tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orland ...

until the late

Piacenzian The Piacenzian is in the international geologic time scale the upper stage (stratigraphy), stage or latest age (geology), age of the Pliocene. It spans the time between 3.6 ± 0.005 year#SI prefix multipliers, Ma and 2.588 ± 0.005 Ma (million yea ...

epoch of the late Pliocene, when remaining species of both ''Ecphora'' and ''Planecphora'' were driven to extinction due to encroachment by new murexes invading from the south.

References

Nomenclator Zoologicus info
* G. C. Martin. 1904. ''Gastropoda''. Maryland Geological Survey Miocene(Text):131-269 * N. F. Sohl. 1964. ''Neogastropoda, Opisthobranchia, and Basommatophora from the Ripley, Owl Creek, and Prairie Bluff Formations''. US Geological Survey Professional Paper 331(B):153-344 * E. J. Petuch. 1992. ''New ecphoras (Gastropoda: Thaididae: Ecphorinae) from the Calvert Formation of Maryland (Langhian Miocene).'' The Nautilus 106(2):68-71 * J. J. Sepkoski. 2002. ''A compendium of fossil marine animal genera''. Bulletins of American Paleontology 363:1-560

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16981526 Muricidae Index fossils Miocene gastropods Pliocene gastropods Langhian first appearances Piacenzian extinctions Prehistoric molluscs of North America Fossil taxa described in 1843 nl:Ecphora vi:Ecphora