Early Jurassic Trochotomidae (Vetigastropoda, Pleurotomarioidea) from the Neuquen Basin, Argentina

Abstract

Trochotomidae is a small but distinctive extinct family of pleurotomarioidean gastropods characterized by trochiform shells with an elliptical trema. Two new species of trochotomids are described from Pliensbachian deposits in the Neuquen Basin, Argentina. The new genus-group name Placotoma is proposed to replace the pre-occupied name Discotoma Haber non Mulsant. The record of Trochotoma (Trochotoma) protonotialis new species and Trochotoma (Placotoma) neuquensis new species in the early Jurassic of Argentina extends the paleobiogeographical distribution of the genus (and the family) to the Southern Hemisphere. The new taxa reported here represent a component of the pleurotomarioidean adaptive radiation that took place in the Tethyan region during the earliest Jurassic. They are related to local patch coral reefs of shallow, open-marine paleoenvironments, agreeing with the known habitat of most species of this family. The group was well represented in the Tethyan region during the Mesozoic, especially during the Jurassic, and the new species represent its southernmost occurrence.