Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Top view: fossilized shell of ecphora gardnerae gardnerae.
Enlarge
Top view: fossilized shell of ecphora gardnerae gardnerae.
Bottom view: fossilized shell of ecphora gardnerae gardnerae.
Enlarge
Bottom view: fossilized shell of ecphora gardnerae gardnerae.

Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae was a murex snail or gastropod that lived primarily during the Miocene epoch and became extinct over two million years ago. Ecphora were predatory snails that could bore holes through the hard shells of mollusks and other prey to feed on their soft insides using a toothed, ribbonlike appendage known as a radula.

In 1994 Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae became the official state fossil of Maryland.


[edit] External links


  This mollusc-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.