Turritella

Turritella
Turritella communis Turritella communis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Subclass: Orthogastropoda Infraclass: Apogastropoda Superorder: Caenogastropoda Order: Sorbeoconcha Suborder: Cerithiimorpha Superfamily: Cerithioidea Family: Turritellidae Genus: Turritella
Species
Turritella apicalis † Turritella communis

Turritella is a genus of gastropod in the family Turritellidae with highly coiled shells in a pronounced, elongated cone. The shells are quite frequently found as fossils, and the carbonate stone made from large quantities of Turritella shells is often referred to as "Turritella limestone", or, if silicified, "Turritella agate". Both varieties of this stone are commonly sold as polished cabochons.

Turritella species originated in the Cretaceous and span to the present day.

Palaeontological locations

• The Turritellenplatte of Ermingen (near Ulm) is situated in the northern part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and is famous for its plenty of gastropod shells of Turritella turris (BASTEROT) within sediments. The fauna of this gastropod-rich sandstone reflects mainly near-coastal and shallow marine conditions. Petrographical and palaeontological data allow a correlation of Turritellenplatte of Ermingen with lower Ottnangian (Lower Miocene). Sr-isotope composition of shark teeth suggests an age of about 18,5 Ma for the Turritellenplatte of Ermingen.

References:

Weblinks

• Selachian fauna of Turritellenplatte: Abstract of Baier et al. 2004

References

• Mayr, Helmut. A Guide to Fossils. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. 1985 (English translation 1992).