Maoritomella nutans

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Maoritomella nutans
Temporal range: middle Miocene
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Maoritomella nutans MA71020-a.jpg
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Borsoniidae
Genus: Maoritomella
Species:
†M. nutans
Binomial name
†Maoritomella nutans

Maoritomella nutans is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc, in the family Borsoniidae. [1] Fossils of the species date to the middle Miocene strata of the St Vincent Basin of South Australia.

Contents

Description

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

Shell tall and narrow, with slightly pagodiform spire. Outlines almost straight except for the inconspicuous peripheral carina at one fourth whorl height. Above the carina there are four fine threads grouped in pairs, two submargining suture and two on shoulder or sinus area. Below the carina there is a second spiral cord of the same strength as the carina, and a third just emerges from the suture on the body-whorl. About 26 spirals on body-whorl from suture to anterior end. [2]

The holotype of the species measures 12.2 mm (0.48 in) in length and has a diameter of 4.5 mm (0.18 in). [2] It is a moderately-sized member of Maoritomella with a large protoconch and two smooth whorls. The final half whorl has brephic axials. [3]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1944. [2] The holotype was collected by W. Howchin and J.C. Verco in 1919 from the Metropolitan Abbatoirs Bore in Adelaide, South Australia, at a depth of 122–152 m (400–499 ft). It is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. [4] [5] Some fossils from the Metropolitan Abbatoirs Bore which had been identified as Asthenotoma subtilinea were later identified as members of M. nutans. [3]

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in middle Miocene strata of the St Vincent Basin of South Australia, including the Dry Creek Sands. [4] [6]

References

  1. ↑ Maoritomella nutans A. W. B. Powell, 1944 † . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 15 December 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Powell, A. W. B. (1944). "The Australian Tertiary Mollusca of the Family Turridae". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 3: 3–68. ISSN   0067-0464. JSTOR   42905993. Wikidata   Q58676624.CC BY icon-80x15.png This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.
  3. 1 2 Ludbrook, N. H. (1958). "The molluscan fauna of the Pliocene strata underlying the Adelaide plains. Part V-Gastropoda (Eratoidae-Scaphandridae)". Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia. 81: 89.
  4. 1 2 Blom, Wilma M. (2025). "Annotated Catalogue of Fossil and Extant Molluscan Types in the Auckland War Memorial Museum". Bulletin of the Auckland Museum . 22. doi:10.32912/BULLETIN/22. ISSN   1176-3213. OCLC   1550165130. Wikidata   Q135397912.
  5. ↑ "Maoritomella nutans". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 15 December 2025.
  6. ↑ Darragh, Thomas A. (August 2024). "A checklist of Australian marine Cenozoic Mollusca". Memoirs of Museum Victoria . 83: 37–206. doi:10.24199/J.MMV.2024.83.02. ISSN   1447-2546. Wikidata   Q136396722.
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