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Pseudozygopleura scitula

Gastropoda - Pseudozygopleuridae

Taxonomy
Loxonema scitula was named by Meek and Worthen (1860). It is not a trace fossil.

It was corrected as Loxonema scitulum by Mark (1912); it was recombined as Pseudozygopleura (Pseudozygopleura) scitula by Knight (1930), Hoare and Sturgeon (1985), Kues and Batten (2001); it was recombined as Pseudozygopleura scitula by Hoare (1961), Yochelson and Saunders (1967), Schindel et al. (1982), Kulas and Batten (1997), Wagner (2023).

Sister species lacking formal opinion data

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1860Loxonema rugosa Meek and Worthen
1860Loxonema scitula Meek and Worthen
1860Loxonema rugosa Meek and Worthen p. 465
1866Loxonema scitula Meek and Worthen p. 377 figs. pl. 31 f. 10a-c
1866Loxonema rugosa Meek and Worthen p. 378 figs. pl. 31 f. 11a-c
1912Loxonema scitulum Mark p. 312 figs. pl. 16 f. 2
1915Zygopleura affinis Girty
1915Zygopleura rugosa Girty p. 183 figs. pl. 25 f. 1-1a
1915Zygopleura affinis Girty p. 359 figs. pl. 32 f. 6a-b
1930Pseudozygopleura (Pseudozygopleura) scitula Knight p. 33–35 figs. pl. 1 f. 2a-c
1961Pseudozygopleura scitula Hoare p. 168 figs. pl. 21 f. 11
1967Pseudozygopleura scitula Yochelson and Saunders p. 157
1982Pseudozygopleura scitula Schindel et al. p. 734 figs. pl. 1 f. 1-4
1985Pseudozygopleura (Pseudozygopleura) scitula Hoare and Sturgeon p. 75 figs. f. 1e, 4h-j
1997Pseudozygopleura scitula Kulas and Batten p. 52
2001Pseudozygopleura (Pseudozygopleura) scitula Kues and Batten pp. 70 - 71 figs. 13.19-13.23
2023Pseudozygopleura scitula Wagner p. 5334

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Protostomia
Spiralia
superphylumLophotrochozoa
phylumMollusca
RankNameAuthor
classGastropoda
subclassCaenogastropoda(Cox 1959)
superfamilyZygopleuroidea
familyPseudozygopleuridae()
genusPseudozygopleura
speciesscitula()

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Pseudozygopleura scitula Meek and Worthen 1860
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Invalid names: Loxonema rugosa Meek and Worthen 1860 [synonym], Pseudozygopleura (Pseudozygopleura) affinis Girty 1915 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
B. S. Kues and R. L. Batten 2001Shell large (up to 30 mm high), narrowly conical, high spired (heightlwidth = 3.0+), anomphalous, consisting of at least 13 whorls; spiral angle averaging 25 degrees; early whorls (3-7) gently convex to nearly flat in profile; later whorls becoming more convex and gently pendant, with periphery low on whorl; whorls embracing low on previous whorl; sutures shallow, adpressed; whorl height about one half width; aperture suboval, higher than wide; columellar lip straight, thickened, somewhat flattened; base of body whorl gently convex, unornamented; collabral costae strong, sharp-crested, typically straight and orthocline to gently opisthocline on earlier whorls, becoming moderately arcuate on later whorls, numbering about 20 per whorl with little change in growth; protoconch consisting of three or more whorls of which all but the first have fine, sinuous axial threads.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: aragonitef
Environment: marinef
Locomotion: actively mobilef
Life habit: epifaunalf
Diet: detritivoref
Vision: limitedf
Created: 2025-08-07 22:21:22
Modified: 2025-08-07 22:21:22
Source: f = family
References: Wagner 2023, Kiessling 2004

Age range: base of the Chesterian to the top of the Kungurian or 335.40000 to 274.40000 Ma

Collections (24 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Chesterian335.4 - 323.4USA (Montana) Pseudozygopleura sp. (579)
Morrowan323.4 - 318.6USA (Texas) Pseydozygopleura scitula (79966)
Atokan318.6 - 312.8USA (Kentucky) Pseudozygopleura scitula (183265)
Atokan318.6 - 312.8USA (Ohio) Pseudozygopleura scitula (128862)
Moscovian315.2 - 307.0USA (Missouri) Pseudozygopleura scitula (69773)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (Pennsylvania) Loxonema scitulum (184098)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (Texas) Pseudozygopleura scitula (11100)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (Ohio) Pseudozygopleura scitula (72004 79324 79389 93081 128861 149169 183260)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (Missouri) Palaeostylus scitula (70482) Pseudozygopleura scitula (69771)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (Oklahoma) Zygopleura rugosa (90783)
Desmoinesian312.8 - 306.0USA (New Mexico) Pseudozygopleura scitula (46536)
Missourian306.0 - 303.7USA (Ohio) Loxonema scitulum (69721) Pseudozygopleura scitula (79350)
Missourian306.0 - 303.7USA (Texas) Pseudozygopleura scitula (156737)
Virgilian303.7 - 298.9USA (West Virginia) Pseudozygopleura scitula (79391)
Virgilian303.7 - 298.9USA (Ohio) Loxonema rugosa, Loxonema scitulum (71993)
Kungurian283.3 - 274.4USA (New Mexico) Zygopleura rugosa (233342)