Freboldia carinii sp. nov. from the MiddleTriassic Brembana Valley (Esino Limestone, Southern Alps, Italy) - possibly the oldest known holoplanktonic gastropod

摘要

A monospecific mass occurrence of the new gastropod species Freboldia carinii sp. nov. is described from the Middle Triassic Esino Limestone of the Brembana Valley, Southern Alps, Italy. It is the second species assigned to the genus Freboldia that was initially described from the Early Jurassic of Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic. This gastropod is unusual in being planispiral and inflated with a nearly bilateral symmetrical shape and in having a very thin shell. Like the Canadian type species of Freboldia, the new Triassic species is interpreted as a possibly holoplanktonic gastropod. If true, it would be the oldest known example of this life style in Gastropoda.