Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990)

Priscaphander cingulatus (Marshall, 1917)

(Pl. 2y): GS10195, I44/f8486, Boulder Hill, Wangaloan (GNS)

Beu & Maxwell (1990): Chapter 5; p. 86; pl. 2 y.

Synonymy: Haminea cingulata Marshall 1917, p. 458

Type species of Priscaphander Finlay & Marwick, 1937

Classification: Cylichnidae

Description: Moderately large for family (height 15-25 mm), oval, involute; apex non-umbilicate, covered by extension of parietal callus. Spiral sculpture of narrow, low, flat-topped or slightly convex cords separated by grooves of variable width. Axial sculpture of numerous, closely spaced costellae which are more obvious on cords than in grooves, and apparently become obsolete on the later part of the last whorl. Aperture large, constricted adapically; outer lip convex, thin, adapical end protruding above apex. Inner lip callus thin and laterally restricted except adapically where it spreads over apex and abapically where it covers the slightly convex columella.

Comparison: Priscaphander cingulatus is distinguished from species of Scaphander — a genus with several representatives in the New Zealand Cenozoic — by its evenly oval rather than apically tapered shape, its non-umbilicate apex and its less concave columella. The genus is known definitely only by the type species, but Finlay & Marwick (1937, p.92) noted the similarity of P. cingulatus to certain Eocene species from the Paris Basin and Louisiana. Paleocene species have also been described from Argentinean Patagonia (Griffin & Hünicken 1994) and Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula (Stilwell & Zinsmeister 1992), and Paleocene-Eocene cylichnids from several other localities closely resemble Priscaphander.

Distribution: Wangaloan, Wangaloa Formation, Wangaloa (type); Boulder Hill (common at both localities).

Cite this publication as: "A.G. Beu and J.I. Raine (2009). Revised descriptions of New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca from Beu and Maxwell (1990). GNS Science miscellaneous series no. 27."
© GNS Science, 2009
ISBN 978-0-478-19705-1
ISSN 1177-2441
(Included with a PDF facsimile file copy of New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin 58 in CD version from: Publications Officer, GNS Science, P.O. Box 30368 Lower Hutt, New Zealand)

References

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