So, being bored, I decided to visit the Smithsonian website to see what (if any) photos of fossil muricids they might have available for online viewing.
Found the Department of Paleobiology’s collections search page, and typed in “Muricidae.” The results page that appeared showed only 5 records, and 3 of them were for type specimens of Attiliosa gretae, a species that was named after me back in 1999, by Dr. Emily Vokes.
Imagine that!
(NOTE: if you want to view a more complete list of the fossil muricid specimens in their collection, you have to get a bit more creative and search on things like “Murex” or “Typhis.” Even going to the Detailed Search page, and typing “Muricidae” in the family field, only returns the same 5 records. As a former database administrator, things like this drive me absolutely batty! 🙂 )
The Fossil Murex Blog 