Elliptotellina
TaxonElliptotellina
AuthorityCossmann, 1886
Synonyms
  • Ascitellina Marwick, 1928
  • Tellina (Elliptotellina) Cossmann, 1886
Type species† Donax tellinella
Type species authorityLamarck, 1805

Elliptotellina is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Tellinidae.[1] First appearing in the fossil record at the end of the Lower Paleocene, the genus has two known living members, E. urinatoria from New Zealand, and E. kikaizimana from the western Pacific Ocean and the Andaman Sea.

Description

The genus is more oval and elongated relative to members of the genus Tellina.[2]

Taxonomy

Elliptotellina was first described as a "section" (i.e. subgenus) of Tellina in 1886 by Maurice Cossmann, who named Donax tellinella (now Elliptotellina tellinella) as the type species for the genus.[2] Elliptotellina has since been raised to genus level.[1]

Distribution

Currently there are two known extant species: E. kikaizimana, which is found in the Andaman Sea, New Caledonia and the islands of southern Japan (including the Amami Islands, Izu Islands, Ryukyu Islands and Bonin Islands),[3][4][5] and E. urinatoria, which is found off the coast of New Zealand at a depth of 27-36.5 m, around the mainland, Stewart Island, Campbell Islands, Bounty Islands and the Chatham Islands.[6]

The earliest known fossils in the genus are of E. donaciformis, which date to the Waipawan stage of New Zealand, from the Lower Palaeocene / early Eocene border,[7] as well as fossils from Togo and Nigeria.[8] Fossils in the genus have been found in England, France, New Zealand, and the west coast of the United States dating to the Eocene.[9][10][8] Fossils dating to the Oligocene have been found in California,[8] as well as Miocene fossils in New Zealand,[11][7] Pliocene fossils from Jamaica,[8] and Quaternary fossils in Ecuador and New Zealand.[8][7]

Species

Species within the genus Elliptotellina include:[1]

References

  1. ^
  2. ^ Cossmann, M. (1886). "Catalogue illustré des coquilles fossiles de l'Eocène des environs de Paris." (in French). Annales de la Société Royale Malacologique de Belgique. 21: 70. – via Biodiversity Heritage Library
  3. ^ Matsukuma, Akihiko (2003). "77 Additional Marine Bivalve Species from Wakayama Prefecture - A Supplement to A CATALOGUE OF MOLLUSCS OF WAKAYAMA PREFECTURE, THE PROVINCE OF KII-I. by T. Habe."". Publications of the Seto Marine Biological Laboratory. Special Publication Series. 7.1
  4. ^ Héros, Virginie; Lozouet, Pierre; Maestrati, Philippe; von Cosel, Rudo; Brabant, Delphine; Bouchet, Philippe (2007). "Mollusca of New Caledonia". Compendium of Marine species for New Caledonia Doc. Sci. Tech II7 Seconde édition. Payri, Claude E. & de Forges, Betrand Richer (eds.). IRD Nouméa. pp. 199–254.
  5. ^ Nomura, S. & Zinbô, N. (1934). "Marine Mollusca from the "Ryûkyû Limestone" of Kikai-zima, Ryûkyû Group.". The Science Reports of the Tôhoku Imperial University, Sendai, Japan, second series (Geology).. 16 (2): 157.
  6. ^ Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand Mollusca: Marine, Land and Freshwater Shells. Auckland: Collins. p. 419. ISBN 0002169061.
  7. ^ Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia.. Gordon, D.P. (ed.). Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.
  8. ^ "†Tellina (Elliptotellina) Cossmann 1886". The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  9. ^ Gale, A. S.; Jeffery, P. A.; Huggett, J. M.; Connolly, P. (1 April 1999). "Eocene inversion history of the Sandown Pericline, Isle of Wight, southern England". Journal of the Geological Society. 156 (2): 327–339. doi:10.1144/gsjgs.156.2.0327
  10. ^ Sanders, Malcolm T.; Merle, Didier; Villier, Loïc (25 September 2015). "The molluscs of the “Falunière” of Grignon (Middle Lutetian, Yvelines, France): quantification of lithification bias and its impact on the biodiversity assessment of the Middle Eocene of Western Europe". Geodiversitas. 37 (3): 345-365. doi:10.5252/g2015n3a4
  11. ^ Wikidata item Q135397912