''Phenatoma decessor'' 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 Borsoniidae
Borsoniidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Borsoniidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.o ...
.
[Marshall, B. (2015). Phenatoma decessor Marwick, 1928 †. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=831651 on 2016-03-21]
Description
The length of the shell is 17 mm, its width 6 mm. Marwick considered this species a direct ancestor of ''
Phenatoma rosea'' to which it closely resembles in shape and ornamentation.
Distribution
This extinct marine species was endemic to
New Zealand and fossils were found in fossiliferous beds of calcareous tuffs at Whenuaturu Peninsula.
References
J. "The Tertiary Mollusca of the Chatham Islands including a generic revision of the New Zealand Pectinidae." Transactions of the New Zealand institute. Vol. 58. No. 4. 1928* Maxwell, P.A. (2009). ''Cenozoic Mollusca''. pp 232–254 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
decessor
Gastropods of New Zealand
{{Borsoniidae-stub