Cuphosolenus
Encyclopedia
Cuphosolenus is a genus
of extinct small to medium-sized sea snail
s, marine
gastropod mollusks in the family
Aporrhaidae
and the superfamily Stromboidea
, known from the Jurassic
and lower Cretaceous
periods. Cuphosolenus was named by Edouard Piette in 1876.
Κυφός σωλήν, or "bent canal," referring to the curved anterior siphonal canal
.
and scientists today generally call the genus Cuphosolenus, following the original spelling.
and an extended, curved siphonal canal
. The original description described the shell as having (translation from the French), "a semi-palmate lip, three digits, the posterior one of which is weakly attached to the spire, inner lip of columella thick, and siphonal canal bent or curved at the end". The type species for the genus is Cuphosolenus tetracer (D'Orbigny).
In his 1891 work, Piette included descriptions of 16 species of Cuphosolenus from the Jurassic of France.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of extinct small to medium-sized 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 mollusks in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Aporrhaidae
Aporrhaidae
Aporrhaidae, common name the pelican's foot snails, is a taxonomic family of sea snails. The taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005 categorizes Aporrhaidae as marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha....
and the superfamily Stromboidea
Stromboidea
The Stromboidea, originally named the Strombacea by Rafinesque in 1815, is a superfamily of medium-sized to very large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.-Shell description:...
, known from the Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
and lower Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
periods. Cuphosolenus was named by Edouard Piette in 1876.
Etymology
Cuphosolenus is from the GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Κυφός σωλήν, or "bent canal," referring to the curved anterior siphonal canal
Siphonal canal
Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. In many carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure...
.
Spelling
In 1887, Paul Fischer “emended” the spelling of the name to Cyphosolenus. In 1891, Piette accepted Fischer’s use of Cyphosolenus in the text of Paléontologie Française ou Description des Fossiles de la France, etc., Vol. III (text), p. 376 ff. This change in spelling has been described as an unjustified emendation under the rules of the International Code of Zoological NomenclatureInternational Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals...
and scientists today generally call the genus Cuphosolenus, following the original spelling.
Description
The genus includes Aporrhaidae shells with three long, thin finger-like extensions from the apetureAperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
and an extended, curved siphonal canal
Siphonal canal
Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. In many carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure...
. The original description described the shell as having (translation from the French), "a semi-palmate lip, three digits, the posterior one of which is weakly attached to the spire, inner lip of columella thick, and siphonal canal bent or curved at the end". The type species for the genus is Cuphosolenus tetracer (D'Orbigny).
Distribution
Cuphosolenus has been reported from the Jurassic of France, the Sinai, and questionably from Saudi Arabia, as well as the lower Cretaceous of Texas and Mexico.In his 1891 work, Piette included descriptions of 16 species of Cuphosolenus from the Jurassic of France.
Species
The following species have been described as belonging (or possibly belonging = "?") to Cuphosolenus:Jurassic species
- Cuphosolenus anguilcostatus Buvignier 1852
- Cuphosolenus barrensis Buvignier 1891
- Cuphosolenus (?) beaumonti (Guirand & Ogérien 1869)
- Cuphosolenus (?) calvus (Contejean 1858)
- Cuphosolenus deshayeseus (Buvignier 1852)
- Cuphosolenus deslongchampsianus Buvingier 1891
- Cuphosolenus dyoniseus (Buvignier 1852) photo
- Cuphosolenus fusoides (Dolfus 1863)
- Cuphosolenus galateae (D'OrbignyAlcide d'OrbignyAlcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology , palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology....
1847) - Cuphosolenus gaulardeus (Buvignier 1852)
- Cuphosolenus johannae Buvignier 1891
- Cuphosolenus matronensis (DeLoriol 1871)
- Cuphosolenus (?) sphinx Piette, 1882
- Cuphosolenus tenuistriatus (Buvignier 1852) photo
- Cuphosolenus tetracer (D'Orbigny 1825) - type species. images
- Cuphosolenus theodoriensis Buvignier 1891
Cretaceous species
- Cuphosolenus mexicanus (Kellum & Appelt, 1964) text include original description
- Cuphosolenus nuecensis (Stanton, 1947)
- Cuphosolenus tarrantensis (Stanton, 1947) 3D photo
Sources
- Piette, 1891. Paléontologie Française ou Description des Fossiles de la France, Terrain Jurassique, Vol. III, Gastéropods. Paris.
- Norman F. Sohl, 1967. Upper Cretaceous Gastropods From the Pierre Shale at Red Bird, Wyoming, Geological Survey Professional Paper 393-B, Washington.
- Stanton T.W. 1947. Studies of Some Comanche Pelecypods and Gastropods, United States Geological Survey, Professional Paper 211, Washington.