Still on holiday, so I am only making a short post today.
Several weeks back, I figured my fragment of Pterotyphis (s.s.) calhounensis Gertman, 1969 as “Specimen of the Week.” Some people might mock it, but considering there are only 3 fragmentary specimens (originally from the Tulane University collections) and one complete specimen (somewhat unfortunately uncovered with the assistance of my ex, while he was on a field trip with the FLMNH folks) documented in the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History, I am still pretty proud of it.
So today, I am finishing off figuring the known species of the genus Pterotyphis from Florida. As you can tell, I really like the Typhinae, as I tend to figure them in my posts more so than any other muricid group. 🙂
The specimen on the left is Pterotyphis (Tripterotyphis) vokesae Gertman, 1969, from the lower Miocene Chipola Formation of north Florida. This species is almost exclusively found in the basal beds of the formation along Tenmile Creek, at sites that are now for the most part off limits to public collecting. (In other words, if you have been collecting at those sites recently without explicit permission from the current landowner, you are trespassing!) The FLMNH collections search website indicates that FLMNH has at least 26 specimens of this species (19 paratypes from the Tulane collections, and 5 other specimens that were donated). I have two complete self-collected specimens, and also had a (self-collected) fragment which I gave / traded away to someone several years ago.
The specimen on the right is Pterotyphis (Tripterotyphis) triangularis (A. Adams, 1856), from the Pleistocene Bermont Formation of south Florida. We traded a friend a mammoth tooth for this specimen many years ago, as I have never collected one myself. The species does survive today, however. The FLMNH collections search website indicates that FLMNH has at least 14 specimens of this species in its collections.
Note, too, the cool 2009 special Lincoln penny design on the coin I used for scale! It’s difficult to find “naturally occurring” specially minted coins when you live in a town of only 5,500 people…
P. (T.) vokesae (left) and P. (T.) triangularis (right) (click to enlarge)
P. (T.) vokesae (left) and P. (T.) triangularis (right) (click to enlarge)
The Fossil Murex Blog 