''Miraclathurella gracilis'' 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 attains 28.5 mm, its diameter 7.5 mm.
On the penult whorl there are sixteen axial ribs, crossed by five or six narrow spiral cords. On the
body whorl
The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk.
In gastropods
In gastropods, the b ...
there are about eighteen narrow, spiral cords, which are slightly enlarged where they cross the ribs and widely spaced in the peripheral region and above. Between them are many minute spirals and rather sharp axial striae.
H.A. Pilsbry, "Revision of W. M. Gabb's Tertiary Mollusca of Santo Domingo"; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1921
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Distribution
Fossils of this marine species were found in Tertiary strata of Santo Domingo.
References
* Gabb, William M. "Cretaceous and Tertiary fossils." (1869): 1–299.
* 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 gracilis''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miraclathurella gracilis
gracilis
Gastropods described in 1866