''Trisecphora'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of extinct

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where 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 t ...

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 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 means "less recent" ...

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 shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

, and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

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

Serravallian The Serravallian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or a stage in the middle Miocene Epoch/ Series, which spans the time between 13.82 Ma and 11.63 Ma (million years ago). The Serravallian follows the Langhian and is followed by the Tort ...

epoch. The common name for this genus and their relatives is "

ecphora Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora (genus), E ...

"(s).

Etymology

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

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

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 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 species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

, 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 of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but ...

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 the parts: the ...

. 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 Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora''. The entire lineage o ...

'' of genus ''

Ecphora Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, ''Ecphora (genus), E ...

'', 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 ''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