Megasurcula

Megasurcula is a genus of medium-sized predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pseudomelatomidae, a family previously lumped with others collectively known as turrids. Species within this genus occur in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Megasurcula

Ed Bierman · 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
Sits inside
PseudomelatomidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Conoidea
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Conoidea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Conoidea
Vision
limitedPBDB, for Gastropoda

Time the record covers

At least 22 million years on record.

The record covers at least 23.04 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 33.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 0 of 126 occurrencesOligocene — about 3 of 126 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 51 of 126 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 33 of 126 occurrencesPleistocene — about 39 of 126 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences31–30 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 12 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 14 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 4 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences10–9.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences9.2–8.1 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences8.1–6.9 Mya — about 1 occurrence6.9–5.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences5.8–4.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences4.6–3.5 Mya — about 10 occurrences3.5–2.3 Mya — about 21 occurrences2.3–1.2 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.2–0 Mya — about 25 occurrences23.04 Mya129 ka34.6 Mya0 Mya

126 occurrences of Megasurcula 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

126 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

27 formations

Careaga Sandstone — 34.90°N, 120.32°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.74°N, 120.41°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.86°N, 120.46°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.77°N, 120.48°WOlcese — 35.45°N, 118.87°WOlcese — 35.51°N, 118.86°WPico — 34.36°N, 118.56°WPico — 34.33°N, 118.72°WPico — 34.43°N, 118.70°WPico — 34.34°N, 118.47°WRound Mountain Silt — 35.44°N, 118.88°WRound Mountain Silt — 35.44°N, 118.82°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.73°N, 118.29°WAstoria — 44.73°N, 124.06°WAstoria — 43.40°N, 124.28°WTowsley — 34.36°N, 118.51°WTowsley — 34.34°N, 118.54°WFernando — 34.05°N, 118.25°WFernando — 34.05°N, 118.25°WPancho Rico — 35.90°N, 120.84°WPancho Rico — 36.13°N, 121.02°WPancho Rico — 36.02°N, 120.88°WPancho Rico — 35.99°N, 120.79°WJacalitos — 36.08°N, 120.48°WJacalitos — 36.07°N, 120.45°WRound Mountain — 35.43°N, 118.80°WRound Mountain — 35.45°N, 118.85°WSan Pedro — 33.93°N, 117.95°WSan Pedro — 33.80°N, 118.16°WClallam — 48.23°N, 124.14°WClallam — 48.27°N, 122.25°WTemblor — 35.88°N, 120.10°WTemblor — 35.45°N, 118.89°WEtchegoin — 36.09°N, 120.50°WEtchegoin — 36.06°N, 120.45°WJewett — 35.49°N, 118.84°WKubota — 37.50°N, 140.00°EEmpire — 43.39°N, 124.28°WSespe — 33.77°N, 117.68°WMerced — 37.39°N, 122.17°WSan Diego — 32.49°N, 117.12°WFoxen Mudstone — 34.89°N, 120.55°WMonterey — 33.59°N, 117.71°WLincoln Creek — 46.49°N, 123.80°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Megasurcula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Megasurcula and its relatives

Miocene

Where Megasurcula and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,517 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 95 sites for Megasurcula, 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

44 references

Each of the 126 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. 32 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 Megasurcula

Credit
Ed Bierman
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itPseudomelatomidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Casey 1904)