''Leucosyrinx rugata'' 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), ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda (Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), Bouchet & Ro ...

, the turrids and allies.

Description

(Original description) The fusiform shell is turriculate. It contains 10

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

s, the lower half obtusely ribbed. The upper half are concave, subangular, with much curved, rugose lines of growth. Beneath the suture whorls are obtusely subcarinated, with distinct revolving lines over the ribbed portion, minute and obsolete above it. The suture is profound. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...

and the

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

are striated. The aperture is slightly curved.T.A. Conrad, Descriptions of New Genera, Subgenera and Species of Tertiary and Recent Shells; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 14 (1862), pp. 284-291]

Distribution

Fossils of this marine species were found in

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

strata of

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; age range: 20.43 to 15.97 Ma.

References

* T. A. Conrad, Catalogue of the Miocene Shells of the Atlantic Slope; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 14 (1862), pp. 559–582+586 * G. C. Martin. 1904. Gastropoda. Maryland Geological Survey Miocene(Text):131-269 * E. J. Petuch. 1988. Neogene History of Tropical American Mollusks 1-217 * L. W. Ward. 1998. Mollusks from the Lower Miocene Pollack Farm Site, Kenty County, Delaware: A preliminary analysis. Geology and paleontology of the lower Miocene Pollack Farm Fossil Site, Delaware {{DEFAULTSORT:Leucosyrinx Rugata rugata Gastropods described in 1862