Epitoniidae

Wentletraps are small, often white, very high-spired, predatory or ectoparasitic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Epitoniidae. The family Epitoniidae belongs to the superfamily Epitonioidea. Since 2017 this family also includes the former families Janthinidae and Nystiellidae, all part of the informal group Ptenoglossa. Epitoniidae is a rather large family, with an estimated number of species about 630.

Epitoniidae

Steve Jurvetson · CC BY 2.0 · 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
Also called
wentletrapPBDB
Sits inside
EpitonioideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB
Motility
slow-movingPBDB
Vision
limitedPBDB, for Gastropoda

Time the record covers

At least 236 million years on record.

The record covers at least 237 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 247 Mya to 0 Mya.

Early Triassic — about 0 of 2177 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 1 of 2177 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 10 of 2177 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 2177 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 1 of 2177 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 0 of 2177 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 56 of 2177 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 281 of 2177 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 130 of 2177 occurrencesEocene — about 482 of 2177 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 115 of 2177 occurrencesMiocene — about 420 of 2177 occurrencesPliocene — about 261 of 2177 occurrencesPleistocene — about 390 of 2177 occurrences252–244 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences244–235 Mya — about 4 occurrences235–227 Mya — about 5 occurrences227–218 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences218–210 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences210–202 Mya — about 1 occurrence202–193 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences168–160 Mya — about 1 occurrence143–134 Mya — about 2 occurrences134–126 Mya — about 11 occurrences126–118 Mya — about 17 occurrences118–109 Mya — about 15 occurrences109–101 Mya — about 11 occurrences101–92 Mya — about 7 occurrences92–84 Mya — about 20 occurrences84–76 Mya — about 64 occurrences76–67 Mya — about 158 occurrences67–59 Mya — about 134 occurrences59–50 Mya — about 65 occurrences50–42 Mya — about 97 occurrences42–34 Mya — about 349 occurrences34–25 Mya — about 87 occurrences25–17 Mya — about 127 occurrences17–8.4 Mya — about 268 occurrences8.4–0 Mya — about 731 occurrences237 Mya11.7 ka252 Mya0 Mya

2,177 occurrences of Epitoniidae on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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

2,177 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

373 formations

Palos Verdes Sand — 33.80°N, 118.16°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.73°N, 118.29°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.94°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 32.70°N, 117.19°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.78°N, 118.30°WCook Mountain — 32.32°N, 89.16°WCook Mountain — 32.04°N, 88.73°WCook Mountain — 32.35°N, 92.72°WCook Mountain — 32.10°N, 88.86°WCook Mountain — 31.88°N, 88.32°WCook Mountain — 32.17°N, 88.83°WCook Mountain — 30.62°N, 96.53°WCook Mountain — 32.51°N, 92.12°WCook Mountain — 32.14°N, 89.00°WCook Mountain — 31.12°N, 95.90°WCook Mountain — 30.01°N, 97.16°WCook Mountain — 31.20°N, 95.73°WCook Mountain — 31.25°N, 95.72°WCook Mountain — 30.63°N, 96.55°WCook Mountain — 30.07°N, 97.08°WCook Mountain — 29.99°N, 97.09°WKeasey — 45.75°N, 123.25°WKeasey — 45.74°N, 122.81°WKeasey — 46.58°N, 123.61°WKeasey — 45.72°N, 123.20°WKeasey — 45.74°N, 123.27°WKeasey — 46.00°N, 123.26°WKeasey — 45.88°N, 123.26°WPrairie Bluff — 34.50°N, 88.94°WPrairie Bluff — 33.90°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.97°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.91°WPrairie Bluff — 33.72°N, 88.92°WPrairie Bluff — 33.50°N, 88.81°WPrairie Bluff — 33.38°N, 88.74°WPrairie Bluff — 33.07°N, 88.61°WPrairie Bluff — 32.97°N, 88.55°WPrairie Bluff — 34.48°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 32.73°N, 88.30°WPrairie Bluff — 32.74°N, 88.36°WPrairie Bluff — 32.70°N, 88.17°WPrairie Bluff — 32.61°N, 88.16°WPrairie Bluff — 32.43°N, 88.04°WPrairie Bluff — 32.39°N, 87.92°WPrairie Bluff — 32.23°N, 87.50°WPrairie Bluff — 32.14°N, 87.42°WPrairie Bluff — 32.07°N, 87.33°WPrairie Bluff — 32.04°N, 86.79°WPrairie Bluff — 32.00°N, 86.48°WPrairie Bluff — 31.97°N, 86.00°WMoodys Branch — 32.33°N, 90.15°WMoodys Branch — 31.85°N, 88.68°WMoodys Branch — 31.84°N, 88.25°WMoodys Branch — 31.67°N, 92.89°WMoodys Branch — 32.17°N, 88.83°WMoodys Branch — 31.92°N, 91.92°WMoodys Branch — 31.60°N, 92.80°WRipley — 35.23°N, 88.61°WRipley — 34.49°N, 89.01°WRipley — 34.73°N, 88.95°WRipley — 35.32°N, 88.42°WRipley — 35.29°N, 88.60°WRipley — 32.64°N, 88.17°WLellinge Greensand — 55.71°N, 12.60°ECoffee Sand — 34.26°N, 88.70°WCoffee Sand — 32.62°N, 89.53°WCoffee Sand — 34.45°N, 88.58°WTimms Point Silt — 33.73°N, 118.28°WMare — 10.00°N, 64.00°WMare — 10.00°N, 71.00°WMare — 10.61°N, 63.52°WMare — 10.64°N, 64.11°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.83°WGatun — 9.38°N, 79.82°WGatun — 9.26°N, 79.91°WGatun — 9.17°N, 80.00°WBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WSan Diego — 34.04°N, 118.53°WSan Diego — 32.54°N, 117.11°WSelsey — 50.73°N, 0.78°WKincaid — 30.28°N, 97.45°WKincaid — 30.80°N, 96.95°WKincaid — 31.67°N, 96.47°WKincaid — 31.32°N, 96.72°WKincaid — 30.11°N, 97.32°WKincaid — 29.89°N, 97.67°WKincaid — 29.75°N, 97.95°WKincaid — 30.13°N, 97.47°WKincaid — 31.36°N, 96.04°WPico — 34.36°N, 118.56°WPico — 34.32°N, 118.68°WPico — 34.42°N, 118.70°WPico — 34.35°N, 118.54°WPico — 34.34°N, 118.51°WLomita Marl — 33.75°N, 118.30°WProvidence — 31.84°N, 85.22°WProvidence — 31.76°N, 85.13°WProvidence — 31.73°N, 85.12°WProvidence — 31.82°N, 84.97°WProvidence — 31.89°N, 85.21°WGosport Sand — 31.52°N, 87.90°WGosport Sand — 31.13°N, 87.93°WGosport Sand — 31.54°N, 87.52°WEugene — 44.05°N, 123.09°WEugene — 44.04°N, 123.04°WEugene — 44.98°N, 123.21°WRound Mountain Silt — 35.43°N, 118.81°WChico — 39.88°N, 121.71°WChico — 39.65°N, 121.59°WChico — 39.76°N, 121.62°WChico — 39.85°N, 121.71°WChico — 39.64°N, 121.56°WSevern — 38.80°N, 77.00°WSevern — 38.89°N, 76.85°WSevern — 38.92°N, 76.85°WReklaw — 30.88°N, 95.38°WReklaw — 30.11°N, 97.32°WReklaw — 30.01°N, 97.26°WReklaw — 30.80°N, 96.72°WReklaw — 30.00°N, 97.25°W

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The named rock units Epitoniidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 349 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 379 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Epitoniidae and its relatives

Eocene

Where Epitoniidae and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

3,284 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 994 sites for Epitoniidae, and this reads 240 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

451 references

Each of the 2,177 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. 439 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 content1

Picture of Epitoniidae

Credit
Steve Jurvetson
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Epitoniidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itEpitonioidea through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Berry 1910