Campanile giganteum
Encyclopedia
†Campanile giganteum is a species
of exceptionally large fossil sea snail
s, marine
gastropod molluscs in the family Campanilidae
. This species dates from the Eocene
epoch. With a shell length of 40 to 60 cm http://www.lacaveauxcoquillages.fr/la_plage_coquilliere.html this is considered to be one of the largest (longest) species of shelled gastropod that ever lived. It is found mostly in the Paris Basin
.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of exceptionally large fossil sea snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod molluscs in the family Campanilidae
Campanilidae
Campanilidae are a taxonomic family of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha.-Taxonomy:There are no subfamilies in Campanilidae recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi .-Genera:...
. This species dates from the Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
epoch. With a shell length of 40 to 60 cm http://www.lacaveauxcoquillages.fr/la_plage_coquilliere.html this is considered to be one of the largest (longest) species of shelled gastropod that ever lived. It is found mostly in the Paris Basin
Paris Basin (geology)
The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France having developed since the Triassic on a basement formed by the Variscan orogeny.-Extent:...
.
External links
- In French, a cave in France with many of these fossils: http://www.lacaveauxcoquillages.fr/la_plage_coquilliere.html
- A good image of one: http://vertebresfossiles.free.fr/tempsgeol/cerithium_giganteum.html