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An unusual new bellerophontacean gastropod from the Ordovician (Whiterockian) of Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

David M. Rohr  and
Ellis L. Yochelson
David M. Rohr
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas 79832
Ellis L. Yochelson
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey (Retired) and Research Associate, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C. 20560
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Abstract

Groomodiscus rossi n. gen. and sp., a bellerophontacean from the Ordovician of Nevada that uncoiled at maturity, is described and placed in the Gastropoda. The deep notch or sinus of the shell is interpreted to have functioned the same as a deep slit, and the new genus is placed within the tropidodiscinids. Uncoiling and thickening of the shell in the mature stage of growth is probably an indication of a fundamental change of life style to a sedentary mode. Fragmentary specimens of the final, uncoiled portion of the whorl resemble the apertural portion of hyoliths. From a functional viewpoint, compressed planispiral shells are concluded more likely to be gastropods than monoplacophorans.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 64 , Issue 6 , November 1990 , pp. 956 - 960
Copyright
Copyright © The Journal of Paleontology 

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