''Alvania virodunensis'' is an extinct

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of minute

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

micromollusk A micromollusc is a shelled mollusc which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine molluscs, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater molluscs also ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Rissoidae Rissoidae is a large family of sea snails. Members of the Rissoidae are very small in size and possess an operculum. Distribution and habitat Rissoidae are found worldwide. They live on sandy or gravel bottoms among algae or marine plants. Th ...

.MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Alvania virodunensis Lozouet, 1998 †. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=872728 on 2024-02-04

Description

The length of the shell attains 1.53 mm, is diameter 0.91 mm.

Distribution

Fossils of this species were found in

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

strata in

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

, France; age range: 28.4 to 23.03 Ma

References

* Lozouet P. (1998). Nouvelles espèces de gastéropodes (Mollusca: Gastropoda) de l'Oligocène et du Miocène inférieur de l'Aquitaine (Sud-Ouest de la France). Cossmanniana. 5(3-4): 61–102.

External links

* virodunensis Gastropods described in 1998 {{paleo-gastropod-stub