Poiretia gracilis, Zieten, 1830

Salvador, Rodrigo B., 2014, The fossil land and freshwater snails of Gündlkofen (Middle Miocene, Germany), Zootaxa 3785 (2), pp. 271-287 : 281

Palaeoglandina cf. gracilis ( Zieten, 1830)

(Fig. 26)

Limnaea gracilis Zieten, 1830: 39 (pl. 30, fig. 3).

Poiretia (Palaeoglandina) gracilis gracilis: Wenz, 1923: 839 . Palaeoglandina gracilis : Zilch, 1959–1960: 457 (fig. 1627). Palaeoglandina gracilis porrecta: Gall, 1980: 64.

Material examined. BSPG 1952 XVIII 14 (3 spcm.).

Description. Shell large, fusiform; greatest width on last whorl. Teleoconch sculptured by regularly distributed, well-marked coarse ribs; distance between ribs equal to rib width. Aperture drop-shaped, vertically elongated; no apparent callus. Peristome simple, but slightly thickened on columellar region. Umbilicus imperforated.

Previous identification of the material. Gall (1980: Nr. 25): Palaeoglandina gracilis porrecta (Gobanz).

Discussion. The fragmentary and deformed preservation of the present material precludes a more precise identification. Nevertheless, the specimens are reminiscent of P. gracilis by their broad shell, strong sculpture and elongated aperture. Palaeoglandina gracilis is known from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene (MN 7) of Central Europe ( Salvador 2013b).

Paleoecological remarks. The genus Palaeoglandina is known since the Paleocene, being widespread throughout Europe and becoming extinct in the Early Pleistocene (Zilch 1959–1960; Esu et al. 1993). Likely, as the recent species in the family, Palaeoglandina was a malacophagous predator ( Barker & Efford 2004); some authors (e.g., Moser et al. 2009) even suggested that it should have displayed the same lifestyle and habitat as the recent North American Euglandina rosea (Férussac) , living on the leaf litter or on trees, with a wide habitat tolerance ( Hubricht 1985; Davis et al. 2004).