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Mauidrillia

Mauidrillia is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Horaiclavidae, the turrids. The genus has one known living member, Mauidrillia felina, found in the waters of South Africa. Fossils of the genus date back to the early Eocene, and are found in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Japan.

Description

Members of Mauidrilla have a globular protoconch of two smooth whorls, a lack of insertion callus, and a broad, relatively shallow subsutural sinus found on the majority of the shoulder of its shells.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by Baden Powell in 1942, who named Mangilia praecophinodes (current accepted name Mauidrillia praecophinodes) as the type species. While previously considered a fossil taxon, a living member of the genus was discovered in 1988, Mauidrillia felina. The genus was assigned to the family Horaiclavidae in 2011.

Distribution and habitat

The sole extant member of the genus, M. felina, is found on the continental slope east of Eastern Cape, South Africa, at a depth between . An undescribed species found near the South Island of New Zealand may represent another extant species in the genus.

Fossil members of the genus occur in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Japan, with the earliest known fossils dating to the early Eocene.

Species

Species within the genus Mauidrillia include:

References

Further reading

  • Maxwell, P. A. 1988. Late Miocene Deep-Water Mollusca from the Stillwater Mudstone at Greymouth, Westland, New Zealand: Paleoecology and Systematics. New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin 55

External links