Testacella schuetti Schlickum, 1967

Salvador, Rodrigo B., 2014, The fossil land and freshwater snails of Gündlkofen (Middle Miocene, Germany), Zootaxa 3785 (2), pp. 271-287 : 281-283

Testacella schuetti Schlickum, 1967

(Fig. 27)

Testacella schuetti Schlickum, 1967: 63 (fig. 1); Harzhauser et al., 2008: 53 (figs. 7.2–7.3); Nardi & Bodon, 2011: 159 (table 3).

Testacella (Testacella) schuetti: Schütt, 1967: 218 (fig. 19). Testacella zelli: Gall, 1980: 56 .

Material examined. BSPG 1952 XVIII 22 (5 spcm.).

Description. Shell small, ear-shaped, vestigial; shell width ~3/5 shell length. Apex pointed, curved. Shell with well-marked growth lines. Aperture elongated, oval; parietal and columellar region greatly thickened.

Previous identification of the material. Gall (1980: Nr. 1): Testacella zelli Klein [sic].

Discussion. The shell is vestigial in this monotypic family and, therefore, is of very limited taxonomical value. Despite being slightly larger, the present specimens compare well with T. schuetti by its oval aperture, low shell and a pointed but curved apex. The species is known from few Middle Miocene (Sarmatian, MN 7–8) sites of the Styrian Basin and North-Alpine Foreland Basin (type locality: Hollabrunn, Austria; Schlickum 1967; Harzhauser et al. 2008). As such, the present record is the oldest for the species.

Paleoecological remarks. Recent Testacella are voracious predators, feeding on earthworms, gastropods and centipedes, and live mainly underground, thus requiring a moist soil cover ( Barker & Efford 2004). This burrowing habit should make preservation in the fossil record difficult.

FIGUREs 4– 5. Gyraulus sp., juvenile (BSPG 1952 XVIII 16; H = 0.4 mm, D = 0.7 mm). FIGURE 6. Clausiliidae indet., spire fragment (BSPG 1952 XVIII 37; H = 2.9 mm).

FIGUREs 12–13. Archaeozonites sp. (BSPG 1952 XVIII 42; H = 17.6 mm, D = 28.6 mm). FIGURE 14. Klikia cf. c oarctata (BSPG 1952 XVIII 7; D = 7.8 mm).