Veruturris

Veruturris is an extinct genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea, currently unassigned to a family.^[1] Fossils of the genus date to between the Late Eocene and middle Miocene, and have been found in strata in South Australia and Victoria.

Veruturris Temporal range: Late Eocene–Middle Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype of Veruturris quadricarinata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	incertae sedis
Genus:	†Veruturris Powell, 1944
Type species
† Veruturris quadricarinatus Powell, 1944
Synonyms[1]
Xenuroturris (Veruturris) Powell, 1944

Description

In the original description, Powell described the genus as below:

A compact group of Australian Tertiary turrids, close to Xenuroturris, Same style of paucispiral protoconch with brephic axials, sinus "V"-shaped at about two-thirds whorl height and subangulate base, but discordant in having a moderately long anterior canal. The canal is shorter than in Turris and Lophiotoma, but very different from the truncated canal of true Xenuroturris.^[2]

Members of the genus have a height of between 14–50 mm (0.55–1.97 in), a tall spire, but only a moderately long canal. This relatively short canal, which is not as truncated as Xenuroturris, is an identifying feature of the genus.^[3]

Taxonomy

Veruturris was first described by Baden Powell in 1944 as a subgenus of Xenuroturris. Powell named Veruturris quadricarinatus as the type species of Veruturris.^[2] It was raised to genus level by Powell in 1964.^[3]

Distribution

The earliest known fossils species in the genus date to the Late Eocene, and the majority of known species date to the middle Miocene. Fossils in the genus have been found in South Australia and Victoria, including the Browns Creek Formation and Muddy Creek Formation of the Otway Basin, the Gellibrand Formation of the Port Phillip Basin, and the Dry Creek Sands of the St Vincent Basin.^[4][5]

Species

Species within the genus Veruturris include:^[1]

• † Veruturris bisculpta (Powell, 1944)
• † Veruturris quadricarinata (Powell, 1944)
• † Veruturris subconcava (G. F. Harris, 1897)
• † Veruturris tomopleuroides (Powell, 1944)

Gallery

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  Veruturris bisculpta
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  Veruturris subconcava
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  Veruturris tomopleuroides