''Trisecphora'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

ocenebrinid

murex ''Murex'' is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".Houart, R.; Gofas, S. (2010). Murex Linnaeus, 1 ...

es indigenous to the

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 ...

coastline of what is now

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

from the Aquitanian epoch until their extinction near the end of the

Serravallian The Serravallian is, in the geologic timescale, an List of time periods, age or a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the middle Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series, which spans the time between 13.82 annum, Ma and 11.63 Ma (m ...

epoch. The common name for this genus and their relatives is " ecphora"(s).

Etymology

The name "Ecphora" is Greek, meaning "bearing out." The word was originally used by

Vitruvius Vitruvius ( ; ; –70 BC – after ) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work titled . As the only treatise on architecture to survive from antiquity, it has been regarded since the Renaissan ...

to signify the projecture of a member or moulding of a column, and here refers to the distinctive "T-shaped" ribs that project from the shell.Oxford English Dictionary, "Ecphora" entry. The prefix "tris" is added to denote how all members of the genus have three ribs.

Subdivisions

As originally proposed by Petuch in 1988, ''Trisecphora'' was presented as a precursor subgenus of ''Ecphora'' (''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

''), even though a subgenus can not technically precede the genus that contains it. Later, Petuch would promote ''Trisecphora'' to the status of full genus.

List of species

*'' T. chamnessi'' (Petuch, 1989) *'' T. eccentrica'' (Petuch, 1989) *'' T. prunicola'' (Petuch, 1988) *'' T. schmidti'' (Petuch, 1989) *'' T. tricostata'' (Martin, 1904) (

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

, synonym = ''Ecphora tricostata'') *'' T. martini'' (Petuch, 1988) *'' T. scientistensis'' (Petuch, 1992) *'' T. bartoni'' (Petuch and Drolshagen, 2010) *'' T. smithae'' (Petuch, 1988) *'' T. patuxentia'' (Petuch, 1989) *'' T. shattucki'' (Petuch, 1989)

Evolution

''Trisecphora'' is one of three daughter genera of the

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 ...

ecphora '' Ecphorosycon'', the other two being '' Siphoecphora'', and '' Chesathais''. ''Trisecphora'' and its sister genera diverged from ''Ecphorosycon'' during a speciation event during the Aquitanian epoch in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. During the

Langhian The Langhian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, an age or stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/Series. It spans the time between 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma and 13.65 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago) during the Middle Miocene.GeoWhen (2007) The Langhian was ...

epoch, ''Trisecphora'' underwent its own speciation event where several species, and the first of a divergent lineage, '' Ecphora wardi'' of genus '' Ecphora'', were produced. Species of ''Trisecphora'' coexisted with ''Ecphorosycon'', ''Chesathais'', and ''Ecphora'' (together with its subgenus '' Planecphora''), until the beginning of the Serravallian, when ''Ecphorosycon'' went extinct (''Trisecphoras sister genus, ''Siphoecphora'' would later go extinct during the Langhian). ''Trisecphora'', itself, would go extinct during the middle of the Serravallian when a warming event killed the last species of that genus and of ''Chesathais'' off, as well as

extirpating Local extinction, also extirpation, is the termination of a species (or other taxon) in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Local extinctions mark a chan ...

''Planecphora'' (which would survive until the Pliocene in Floridian coral reefs).

References

Nomenclator Zoologicus info

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7843970 Ocenebrinae Miocene gastropods Index fossils Serravallian extinctions Aquitanian genus first appearances Fossil taxa described in 1988