Architectonica nobilis

Architectonica nobilis, common name the American sundial, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Architectonicidae, which are known as the staircase shells or sundials.

Architectonica nobilis

Bommerer · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ArchitectonicaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Architectonicidae
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Architectonicidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Architectonicidae
Vision
limitedPBDB, for Gastropoda

Time the record covers

At least 27 million years on record.

The record covers at least 27.3 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 1 of 206 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 206 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 141 of 206 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 53 of 206 occurrencesPleistocene — about 10 of 206 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences47–46 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences42–41 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences41–39 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences34–33 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences33–31 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences28–26 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 4 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 9 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 13 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 13 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 19 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 15 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 11 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 18 occurrences9.8–8.2 Mya — about 18 occurrences8.2–6.5 Mya — about 14 occurrences6.5–4.9 Mya — about 14 occurrences4.9–3.3 Mya — about 30 occurrences3.3–1.6 Mya — about 19 occurrences1.6–0 Mya — about 6 occurrences27.3 Mya129 ka49 Mya0 Mya

206 occurrences of Architectonica nobilis on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

206 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

51 formations

Gatun — 9.34°N, 79.80°WGatun — 9.39°N, 79.82°WGatun — 9.26°N, 79.91°WGatun — 9.17°N, 80.00°WCastilletes — 11.85°N, 71.33°WCastilletes — 11.93°N, 71.34°WCastilletes — 11.96°N, 71.26°WCastilletes — 11.93°N, 71.36°WTubará — 10.99°N, 74.95°WTubará — 10.80°N, 74.92°WTubará — 10.33°N, 75.41°WTubará — 10.40°N, 75.51°WTubará — 10.80°N, 75.02°WPirabas — 0.80°S, 47.13°WPirabas — 1.00°S, 48.00°WPirabas — 1.23°S, 47.40°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 1.05°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.60°S, 47.31°WPirabas — 2.58°S, 43.38°WJimol — 11.85°N, 71.33°WJimol — 11.95°N, 71.36°WJimol — 11.96°N, 71.43°WMare — 10.00°N, 64.00°WMare — 10.00°N, 71.00°WMare — 10.61°N, 63.52°WMare — 10.64°N, 64.11°WGurabo — 19.48°N, 71.09°WGurabo — 19.53°N, 71.20°WGurabo — 19.48°N, 70.98°WGurabo — 19.30°N, 70.50°WGurabo — 19.45°N, 70.70°WGurabo — 19.30°N, 71.67°WGurabo — 19.58°N, 71.05°WOak Grove — 30.90°N, 84.58°WOak Grove — 30.92°N, 86.57°WShoal River — 30.72°N, 86.12°WShoal River — 30.72°N, 86.04°WCulebra — 9.08°N, 79.68°WCulebra — 9.03°N, 79.63°WAgueguexquite — 18.09°N, 94.34°WAgueguexquite — 17.58°N, 95.08°WAgueguexquite — 18.14°N, 94.44°WDaule — 1.73°S, 80.25°WCantaure — 11.90°N, 69.85°WCantaure — 11.95°N, 70.03°WJama — 0.18°S, 80.32°WJama — 0.20°N, 80.27°WGrand Bay — 12.47°N, 61.42°WAraya — 10.82°N, 64.18°WAraya — 10.63°N, 64.30°WAraya — 10.62°N, 64.00°WPlaya Grande — 10.00°N, 71.00°WPlaya Grande — 10.00°N, 64.00°WJackson Bluff — 30.39°N, 84.64°WChagres Sandstone — 8.85°N, 81.70°WChagres Sandstone — 9.23°N, 80.09°WChagres Sandstone — 9.60°N, 79.53°WCercado — 19.46°N, 71.10°WCercado — 19.52°N, 71.27°WFerrotepec — 18.03°N, 103.60°WCharco Azul — 8.55°N, 83.00°WCharco Azul — 8.03°N, 82.92°WArmuelles — 8.03°N, 82.92°WBaitoa — 19.17°N, 70.70°WBaitoa — 19.30°N, 70.80°W

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The named rock units Architectonica nobilis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 27 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 20 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Architectonica nobilis and its relatives

Miocene

Where Architectonica nobilis and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,275 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 105 sites for Architectonica nobilis, and this reads all of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

50 references

Each of the 206 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 38 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Architectonica nobilis

Credit
Bommerer
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArchitectonica through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Röding 1798)