This fossil comes from Upper Miocene deposits of Italy and is most probably terrestrial (although freshwater can't be excluded). It's not rare and all specimens consist of this cap-like fragment with prominent axial ribs.
All suggestions welcome.
Dear Mathias,
Among land snails, my best guess is the vitrinids, which display this whorl growth on top of the protoconch. Still the sculpture pattern is rather unusual; I don't remember seeing anything like it.
I hope that helps.
Kind regards,
Rodrigo.
Here, this is the type material (possibly the holotype) of Vitrina suevica from Steinheim.
Hi Rodrigro,
thanx a lot for your suggestion. virinids was also an idea from the leiden group around edi gittenberger. thus, I will go in this direction but still did not find anything really fitting.
its really strange .. I have asked now so many people but nobody provided a "full match"
this will be part of a nearly finished paper on the macofauna of the messinian of moncucco in piedmont (italy).
keep me informed about your work
mathias
Hello, can you add a side picture of the specimen? because it looks more like a calcified operculum than a shell in that angle, have you tried that?.
Good luck with your paper!
Dear Fernanda,
thanx for your suggestion. but it is clearly not an operculum when having the material in hand - the lower side is concave and the shell is thin. something strange..
all the best
mathias
Dear Jean-Michel,
yes indeed it is reminiscent of cephalaspidans - but this would not fir at all to the rest of the asemblage with lago-mare and terrestrial taxa. but on the other hand I cannot exclude that any opisthobrnch managed to cope with the strange waterchemistry of the lago-mare.. who knows?
in any case thanx for your suggestion!
mathias
It could be a kind of extinct Melanochlamis sp. or Doridium sp. who lived in salt lake near the sea or the result of a resedimentation.
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