Ecphora gardnerae

{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Miocene}} | image = Ecphora quadricostata.jpg | image_caption = An apertural view of a shell of ''Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae'', drawn by J. C. McConnell<ref>Clark, Shattuck & Dall, ''The Miocene Deposits of Maryland,'' Maryland Geological Survey (1904), Pl. LII no. 1 as "''Ecphora quadricostata''".</ref> | genus = Ecphora | species = gardnerae | authority = Wilson, 1987 }}

'''''Ecphora gardnerae''''' is a species of extinct predatory ocenebrinid murex gastropod. Shells of ''E. gardnerae'' are found in Miocene-aged marine strata of Maryland and Virginia.

==Subspecies== Subspecies include: * ''Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae'', the nominate subspecies * ''Ecphora gardnerae germonae''

==Geological history== alt=fossil snail Ecphora gardnerae|left|thumb|''Ecphora gardnerae'' fossil This species of large carnivorous sea snail lived during the Miocene epoch, and became extinct more than five million years ago.

This species was previously known as ''Ecphora quadricostata'', but that name is now restricted to a species which is found from Pliocene strata in Virginia to Florida. The Miocene-aged specimens found in Maryland have been assigned to a different taxon, ''Ecphora gardnerae''.<ref>Ward & Gilinsky, 'Ecphora (Gastropoda: Muricidae) from the Chesapeake Group of Maryland and Virginia', ''Notulae Naturae'', No. 469 (1988), p. 1, available on line [https://books.google.com/books?id=84doo7Wb5DAC&dq=%22Ecphora+quadricostata%22&pg=PA1 here]</ref>

==Life habits== As with most other muricids, ''Ecphora'' sea snails bored holes through the hard shells of other mollusks, usually bivalves, or sometimes other snails, including other, smaller ''Ecphora''s, in order to feed on their soft insides using a toothed, ribbonlike appendage (common to almost all gastropods) known as a radula.<ref name="MSF">{{cite web|title=www.statefossils.com|url=http://www.statefossils.com/md/mdfossil.html|work=Maryland State Fossil|accessdate=23 July 2010}}</ref>

== Commemoration of the fossil== In March 1994, Dr. Eric Seifter testified before the Maryland Legislature that the classification of the Maryland State Fossil, ''Ecphora quadricostata'' was invalid (''quadricostata'' is not actually found in Maryland) and needed to be changed to ''Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae''.<ref name=MSF /> The fossil was named for geologist Julia Anna Gardner.<ref>{{cite web|title=Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell|url=http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/fs/fs6.html|publisher=Maryland Geological Survey|accessdate=19 August 2012|archive-date=16 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516182646/http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/fs/fs6.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}} * D. Wilson. 1987. ''Species of Ecphora, including the subgenus Stenomphalus, in the Pungo River Formation.'' Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology 61:21-30

==External links== *[http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/fs/fs6.html Maryland Geological Survey: Maryland's Official State Fossil Shell] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516182646/http://www.mgs.md.gov/esic/fs/fs6.html |date=2011-05-16 }}

Category:Ocenebrinae Category:Miocene gastropods Category:Symbols of Maryland Category:Fossil taxa described in 1987