| Spironema Temporal range: Cretaceous |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Littorinimorpha |
| Superfamily: | Naticoidea |
| Family: | Naticidae[1] |
| Genus: | †Spironema Meek, 1864[2] |
†Spironema is a genus of extinct (Cretaceous) sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Naticidae, the moon snails.[1]
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The American paleontologist Fielding Bradford Meek firstly defined this genus in 1864.[2] He classified the genus in the family Littorinidae.[2] He recognized two species Spironema bella and Spironema tenuilineata in 1864.[2] These species were previously classified within the family Trochidae.[2] Meek's diagnosis reads as follows:[2]
| “ |
Shell ovate; whorls rounded, and separated by a rather deep suture; aperture ovate, lip thin, continuous; columella not thickened, perforated by a very small umbilicus; surface with revolving lines and furrows. The non-perlaceous texture of the interior layer, as well as the other characters of such Cretaceous shells, remove them from the Trochidae. |
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Species within the genus Spironema include:
This article incorporates public domain text from the reference[2]