Mauidrillia unilirata

Mauidrillia unilirata Temporal range: early Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Horaiclavidae
Genus:	Mauidrillia
Species:	†M. unilirata
Binomial name
†Mauidrillia unilirata A. W. B. Powell, 1942

Mauidrillia unilirata is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Horaiclavidae. ^[1] Fossils of the species date to the early Miocene, and are found in the Mount Harris Formation near Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand.

Description

Reverse view of holotype

The species has a moderately sized shell, with 6 whorls and strongly angulate whorls and a deeply concave shoulder and weak sutural cord. The shell has 15 thin and sinuous axials per whorl. The holotype of the species measures 7.5 mm (0.30 in) in height and 3.2 mm (0.13 in) in diameter. ^[2]

Powell noted similarities between M. unilirata and M. cinctuta . ^[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1942. ^[2] The holotype was collected from Ardgowan near Oamaru, Otago at an unknown date prior to 1943, and is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. ^{[3] [4]}

Distribution

This extinct marine species occurs in early Miocene strata of the Mount Harris Formation near Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand. ^{[3] [2]}

References

1. Mauidrillia unilirata A. W. B. Powell, 1942 † . 8 December 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. Powell, A. W. B. (1942). "The New Zealand recent and fossil Mollusca of the family Turridae, with general notes on Turrid nomenclature and systematics". Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum . 2: 87. ISSN   0067-0456. OCLC   1826451. Wikidata   Q115110377.
3. 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.
4. "Mauidrillia unilirata". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 8 December 2025.

Further reading

• P. A. Maxwell. 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
• Maxwell, P.A. (2009). Cenozoic Mollusca. pp. 232–254 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch