Anodontia waharoaensis
| Anodontia waharoaensis Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Lucinida |
| Family: | Lucinidae |
| Genus: | Anodontia |
| Species: | †A. waharoaensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Anodontia waharoaensis Eagle, 1992
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Anodontia waharoaensis is an extinct species of bivalve, a marine mollusc, in the family Lucinidae.[1] Fossils of the species date to early Miocene strata of the west coast of the Auckland Region, New Zealand.
Description
The species has a very large, subcircular shell, which is strongly inflates and globose. It has a low, inconspicuous prosogyrous beak found slightly anterior of the midline. The surface of the shells have comarginal grooves that are weak and irregular. The holotype of the species measures 123 mm (4.8 in) in length and 123 mm (4.8 in) in height, with a postumbonal length of 65 mm (2.6 in) and an anterior-dorsal apical inclination of 25°.[2]
It can be distinguished from A. edentuloides due to A. waharoaensis being three times its size, and by having wrinkled irregular growth lines. A. sphericula differs due to being less circular and having fine concentric threads on the outside of its shell.[2]
Taxonomy
The species was first described by Michael K. Eagle in 1992 as Anodontia (Anodontia) waharoaensis.[2] Eagle named the species after the type locality, Te Waharoa Bay.[2] The currently accepted scientific name does not include the subgenus.[3] The holotype was collected on 24 May 1992 by Eagle from Te Waharoa Bay, south of Muriwai, Auckland Region, and is held in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum.[4][5]
When Eagle described the species, it was the only known member of Anodontia to be found in New Zealand.[2] In 2018, Kazutaka Amano, Crispin Little and Kathleen Campbell argued that the species was not part of Anodontia, but instead a member of the Pegophyseminae subfamily of Lucinidae due to its size, however did not specify a genus.[6]
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]
Gallery
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Side view of holotype
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Type specimen
References
- ^ Anodontia waharoaenis Eagle, 1992 †. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 20 January 2026.
- ^ a b c d e Eagle, Michael K. (1992). "A New Lower Miocene Species of Anodontia (Mollusca: Bivalvia)". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 29: 103–111. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42906424. Wikidata Q58677425.
- ^ Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". In Gordon, D.P. (ed.). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ "Anodontia waharoaensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Amano, Kazutaka; Little, Crispin T. S.; Campbell, Kathleen A. (2018). "Lucinid bivalves from Miocene hydrocarbon seep sites of eastern North Island, New Zealand, with comments on Miocene New Zealand seep faunas". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 63. doi:10.4202/APP.00461.2018. ISSN 0567-7920. Wikidata Q56553304.