''Miraclathurella amica'' is an extinct
species of
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 marine
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 in the
family Pseudomelatomidae
Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).
In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...
, the turrids and allies.
Description
The length of the shell is 16.3 mm, its dialmeter 5.25 mm.
(Original description) This extinct species resembles ''
Miraclathurella gracilis
''Miraclathurella gracilis'' is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pseudomelatomidae, the turrids and allies.
Description
The length of the shell attains 28.5 mm, its diameter 7.5 mm.
On the ...
'' but it is less slender and the
whorl
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
Whorls in nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...
s are shorter and revolve less obliquely. It has the same number of axial ribs and spiral threads but, as they are relatively larger, they are much more crowded than in ''M. gracilis''. The fine spiral lines between the prominent raised threads are very minute. The lip
varix is noticeably larger and the
aperture is wider. The callous nodule on the body next to the sinus is much larger than in ''M. gracilis''.
Pilsbry & Johnson (1917), New Mollusca from the Santo Domingan Oligocene, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1917
/ref>
Distribution
Fossils of this species were found in Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
strata in Santo Domingo.
References
* W. P. Woodring. 1928. ''Miocene Molluscs from Bowden, Jamaica. Part 2: Gastropods and discussion of results.'' Contributions to the Geology and Palaeontology of the West Indies.
* B. Landau and C. Marques da Silva. 2010. ''Early Pliocene gastropods of Cubagua, Venezuela: Taxonomy, palaeobiogeography and ecostratigraphy''. Palaeontos 19:1-221
External links
Fossilworks: ''Miraclathurella amica''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miraclathurella amica
amica
Gastropods described in 1917