Austroclavus awakinoensis

Austroclavus awakinoensis
Temporal range:
Holotype from Auckland War Memorial Museum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Austroclavus
Species:
A. awakinoensis
Binomial name
Austroclavus awakinoensis
Powell, 1942

Austroclavus awakinoensis is an extinct species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the superfamily Conoidea, currently not assigned to a family.[1] Fossils of the species date to the early Miocene, and have been found near Awakino in the Waikato Region, New Zealand.

Description

The species has a small shell, a protoconch with five whorls with a lightly margined suture. The shell has eight whorls in total, which are angled at the middle.[2] The holotype of the species measures 6.5 mm (0.26 in) in height and 2.4 mm (0.094 in) in diameter.[2]

Taxonomy

The species was first described by A.W.B. Powell in 1942.[2] The holotype was collected from near Awakino in the Waitomo District, 3 km (1.9 mi) east of the Awakino Gorge road tunnel by C. R. Laws, at an unknown date prior to 1942. It is held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[3][4]

Distribution

This extinct marine species dates to the early Miocene (Otaian), and occurs in the Mahoenui Formation east of the Awakino Gorge in the southwestern Waikato Region, New Zealand.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Syntomodrillia waiauensis A. W. B. Powell, 1942 †. 13 November 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
  2. ^ a b c 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: 120. ISSN 0067-0456. OCLC 1826451. Wikidata Q115110377.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Austroclavus awakinoensis". Collections Online. Auckland War Memorial Museum. Retrieved 13 November 2025.

Further reading

  • 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. pp. 232–254. ISBN 978-1877257728.