Biology:Ringicula marwicki

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Short description: Extinct species of gastropod

Ringicula marwicki
Temporal range: early Miocene
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Order: Cephalaspidea
Family: Ringiculidae
Genus: Ringicula
Species:
R. marwicki
Binomial name
Ringicula marwicki
A. W. B. Powell, 1935

Ringicula marwicki is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc, in the family Ringiculidae.[1][2] Fossils of the species date to early Miocene strata of the west coast of the Auckland Region, New Zealand.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

In the original description, Powell described the species as follows:

Shell small, ovate, solid. Body-whorl inflated. Spire narrowly conical, about two-thirds height of aperture. Whorls 4​12, including a small, smooth, dome-shaped protoconch of about 1​12 whorls, the tip flattened and slightly tilted. Suture impressed and bordered below by a fairly strong groove. Spire whorls smooth, body-whorl sculptured with about 16 incised lines, five of them being between the sutures. Outer lip broken away below, but, by the remaining upper portion, it is shown to be strongly variced. Parietal wall with a strong fold and two more, equally strong, on the columella.[3]

The holotype of the species measures 3 mm (0.12 in) in height and 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter.[3] The species is morphologically similar to R. torquata, but can be identified due to R. marwicki being smaller, having a less broadly conic spire and stronger subsutural border.[3]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1935.[3] The holotype was collected at an unknown date prior to 1935 from Te Waharoa Bay, south of Muriwai, Auckland Region (then more commonly known as Motutara), and is held in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum.[4][5]

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in early Miocene strata of the Tirikohua Formation of New Zealand, on the west coast of the Waitākere Ranges of the Auckland Region, New Zealand.[4]

References

  1. Ringicula marwicki (A. W. B. Powell, 1935) †. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 20 January 2026.
  2. Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia.. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3  , Wikidata Q58676576 Template:Source-attribution-CC BY 4.0
  4. 4.0 4.1  , Wikidata Q135397912
  5. "Ringicula marwicki". Auckland War Memorial Museum. https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/collections/record/227119. 

Wikidata ☰ Q106223298 entry