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Taxonomy and distribution of the buccinid gastropod Brachysphingus from uppermost Cretaceous and Lower Cenozoic marine strata of the Pacific Slope of North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Richard L. Squires*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, California State University, Northridge 91330-8266

Abstract

Brachysphingus is a low-spired bucciniform neogastropod known only from the fossil record of California and northern Baja California. The earliest species, Brachysphingus gibbosus Nelson, 1925, ranges in age from latest Cretaceous or possibly earliest Paleocene to the late Paleocene. During the early Paleocene, the smoothish B. gibbosus evolved into the axially ribbed B. sinuatus Gabb, 1869, which is the senior primary synonym of B. gabbi Stewart, 1927. During the late Paleocene, B. sinuatus evolved into B. mammilatus Clark and Woodford, 1927, which is the youngest species of Brachysphingus and which lasted into the early Eocene.

All three species of Brachysphingus were shallow-marine dwellers subject to transport into deeper waters via turbidity currents.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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