Coptocheilus electrothauma

Coptocheilus electrothauma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Architaenioglossa
Family: Pupinidae
Genus: Coptocheilus
Species:
C. electrothauma
Binomial name
Coptocheilus electrothauma
Asato & Hirano in Hirano et al., 2019

Coptocheilus electrothauma is an extinct species of land snail that belonged to the subfamily Pupinellinae. It lived in Myanmar (Burmese amber) during the Middle Cretaceous period. The closest living relative to this species is likely Schistoloma sectilabrum due to its smooth, turriform/pipuniform shell.[1][2]

The species name is Greek with "electro" meaning amber and "thauma" meaning miracle. This is because the inclusion of this holotype specimen was extraordinarily well preserved and described to be exceptional.[1]

Description

Its shell was small to medium sized being around 9.6 mm high and 4.5 mm wide. The shell was turriform/pupiniform shaped and had a robust and rough shell surface. The shell has weak growth lines and 5-6 whorls with it being curved and inflated.[1][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hirano, Takahiro; Asato, Kaito; Yamamoto, Shûhei; Takahashi, Yui; Chiba, Satoshi (2019-11-04). "Cretaceous amber fossils highlight the evolutionary history and morphological conservatism of land snails". Scientific Reports. 9 (1): 15886. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-51840-3. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 6828811.
  2. ^ "Marine Species Traits - Coptocheilus electrothauma (Asato & T. Hirano, 2019) †". www.marinespecies.org. Retrieved 2026-02-20.
  3. ^ Li, Xiaosen; Xiao, Chuantao; Yu, Tingting (2026-01-15). "New data of Coptocheilus electrothauma (Gastropoda: Cyclophoroidea: Pupinidae) from Mid-Cretaceous Kachin Amber of northern Myanmar". Palaeontologia Electronica. 29 (1): 1–11. doi:10.26879/1606. ISSN 1094-8074.