Architectonicidae

Architectonicidae, common name the staircase shells or sundials, are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the informal group Lower Heterobranchia of the clade Heterobranchia.

Architectonicidae

Marie Hennion · CC BY 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
ArchitectonicoideaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Vision
limitedPBDB, for Gastropoda

Time the record covers

At least 233 million years on record.

The record covers at least 233.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 237 Mya to 0 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 0 of 1530 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 4 of 1530 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 1530 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 1 of 1530 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 0 of 1530 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 3 of 1530 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 137 of 1530 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 97 of 1530 occurrencesEocene — about 656 of 1530 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 35 of 1530 occurrencesMiocene — about 372 of 1530 occurrencesPliocene — about 167 of 1530 occurrencesPleistocene — about 57 of 1530 occurrences242–234 Mya — about 3 occurrences234–226 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences169–161 Mya — about 1 occurrence129–121 Mya — about 1 occurrence113–105 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences105–97 Mya — about 3 occurrences97–89 Mya — about 2 occurrences89–81 Mya — about 11 occurrences81–73 Mya — about 23 occurrences73–64 Mya — about 110 occurrences64–56 Mya — about 83 occurrences56–48 Mya — about 85 occurrences48–40 Mya — about 247 occurrences40–32 Mya — about 334 occurrences32–24 Mya — about 26 occurrences24–16 Mya — about 115 occurrences16–8.1 Mya — about 202 occurrences8.1–0 Mya — about 283 occurrences233.6 Mya11.7 ka242 Mya0 Mya

1,530 occurrences of Architectonicidae on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

1,530 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

277 formations

Cook Mountain — 31.31°N, 86.48°WCook Mountain — 30.53°N, 96.69°WCook Mountain — 31.25°N, 95.73°WCook Mountain — 31.75°N, 92.97°WCook Mountain — 32.32°N, 89.03°WCook Mountain — 32.17°N, 88.83°WCook Mountain — 32.32°N, 89.16°WCook Mountain — 32.04°N, 88.73°WCook Mountain — 32.35°N, 92.72°WCook Mountain — 32.10°N, 88.86°WCook Mountain — 30.62°N, 96.53°WCook Mountain — 31.26°N, 93.82°WCook Mountain — 30.90°N, 96.38°WCook Mountain — 30.00°N, 97.14°WCook Mountain — 32.51°N, 92.12°WCook Mountain — 31.35°N, 93.65°WCook Mountain — 31.03°N, 95.63°WCook Mountain — 31.12°N, 95.90°WCook Mountain — 30.01°N, 97.16°WCook Mountain — 30.62°N, 96.56°WCook Mountain — 31.35°N, 95.52°WCook Mountain — 31.20°N, 95.73°WCook Mountain — 31.11°N, 96.28°WCook Mountain — 31.36°N, 95.42°WCook Mountain — 30.07°N, 97.08°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.81°WGatun — 9.38°N, 79.82°WGatun — 9.04°N, 80.65°WGatun — 9.35°N, 79.85°WGatun — 9.26°N, 79.91°WGatun — 9.17°N, 80.00°WMoodys Branch — 32.95°N, 90.17°WMoodys Branch — 32.23°N, 92.15°WMoodys Branch — 32.01°N, 92.00°WMoodys Branch — 32.33°N, 90.15°WMoodys Branch — 31.14°N, 87.94°WMoodys Branch — 32.00°N, 92.08°WMoodys Branch — 31.63°N, 91.82°WMoodys Branch — 31.82°N, 92.33°WMoodys Branch — 31.67°N, 92.89°WMoodys Branch — 31.78°N, 92.49°WMoodys Branch — 33.96°N, 92.19°WMoodys Branch — 32.98°N, 90.30°WMoodys Branch — 31.60°N, 92.80°WWeches — 31.76°N, 93.09°WWeches — 30.67°N, 96.37°WWeches — 30.00°N, 97.15°WWeches — 31.78°N, 95.15°WWeches — 31.56°N, 94.50°WWeches — 30.68°N, 96.58°WWeches — 31.21°N, 96.02°WWeches — 31.11°N, 96.28°WWeches — 30.18°N, 97.47°WWeches — 31.34°N, 95.68°WWeches — 31.35°N, 95.68°WWeches — 31.00°N, 96.83°WWeches — 31.59°N, 94.84°WWeches — 31.25°N, 96.12°WWeches — 31.22°N, 96.06°WGosport Sand — 31.52°N, 87.90°WGosport Sand — 31.54°N, 87.52°WGosport Sand — 31.50°N, 87.80°WGosport Sand — 31.53°N, 87.57°WGosport Sand — 31.13°N, 87.93°WLisbon — 31.84°N, 88.25°WLisbon — 31.50°N, 87.80°WLisbon — 31.76°N, 88.10°WLisbon — 31.30°N, 86.48°WLisbon — 31.02°N, 85.85°WLisbon — 31.53°N, 87.57°WLisbon — 31.13°N, 87.93°WLisbon — 32.32°N, 89.16°WLisbon — 31.54°N, 87.52°WLisbon — 31.82°N, 88.24°WLisbon — 31.55°N, 87.91°WReklaw — 30.88°N, 95.38°WReklaw — 30.11°N, 97.32°WReklaw — 30.01°N, 97.26°WReklaw — 30.80°N, 96.72°WReklaw — 30.00°N, 97.25°WRipley — 34.73°N, 88.95°WRipley — 34.49°N, 89.01°WRipley — 35.23°N, 88.61°WRipley — 35.32°N, 88.42°WRipley — 35.29°N, 88.60°WCastilletes — 11.85°N, 71.33°WCastilletes — 11.93°N, 71.34°WCastilletes — 11.96°N, 71.26°WCastilletes — 11.93°N, 71.36°WCorsicana Marl — 32.86°N, 96.21°WCorsicana Marl — 32.06°N, 96.47°WCorsicana Marl — 31.82°N, 96.54°WCorsicana Marl — 31.74°N, 96.61°WCorsicana Marl — 31.75°N, 96.61°WCorsicana Marl — 31.40°N, 96.73°WCorsicana Marl — 31.30°N, 96.75°WCorsicana Marl — 30.94°N, 96.95°WCorsicana Marl — 30.81°N, 97.10°WCorsicana Marl — 30.37°N, 97.46°WCorsicana Marl — 30.20°N, 97.62°WCorsicana Marl — 29.98°N, 97.69°WCorsicana Marl — 29.83°N, 97.84°WAmeki — 6.83°N, 7.08°EAmeki — 5.00°N, 7.50°ELlajas — 34.31°N, 118.67°WLlajas — 34.32°N, 118.63°WLlajas — 34.23°N, 118.76°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 32.08°N, 88.22°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.92°N, 87.97°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 32.37°N, 88.68°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.45°N, 85.63°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.93°N, 87.75°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.97°N, 87.86°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.92°N, 87.52°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 31.91°N, 87.74°WHatchetigbee Bluff — 32.14°N, 87.47°WDaule — 1.73°S, 80.25°WEscudo de Veraguas — 9.09°N, 81.55°WEscudo de Veraguas — 9.10°N, 81.58°WTuscahoma — 31.82°N, 87.37°WTuscahoma — 32.08°N, 88.22°WTuscahoma — 31.85°N, 87.53°WTuscahoma — 31.54°N, 87.52°WTuscahoma — 31.81°N, 87.48°WCoffee Sand — 34.26°N, 88.70°WCoffee Sand — 32.62°N, 89.53°WCoffee Sand — 34.45°N, 88.58°WBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WCayo Agua — 9.18°N, 82.05°WCayo Agua — 9.17°N, 82.04°WCayo Agua — 9.14°N, 82.01°WByram — 32.41°N, 90.84°WProvidence — 31.95°N, 85.68°WProvidence — 31.92°N, 85.35°WProvidence — 31.94°N, 86.11°WProvidence — 31.84°N, 85.22°WProvidence — 31.73°N, 85.12°WProvidence — 31.77°N, 85.13°WProvidence — 31.96°N, 85.45°WPirabas — 0.80°S, 47.13°WPirabas — 1.00°S, 48.00°WPirabas — 1.23°S, 47.40°WPirabas — 0.74°S, 47.32°WPirabas — 0.48°S, 48.17°WPirabas — 1.05°S, 47.16°WPirabas — 0.60°S, 47.31°WPirabas — 2.58°S, 43.38°WTermofourà — 45.05°N, 7.80°ECrockett — 30.63°N, 96.54°WCrockett — 30.67°N, 96.37°WCrockett — 31.40°N, 93.70°WCrockett — 30.90°N, 96.39°W

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The named rock units Architectonicidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 253 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 175 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Architectonicidae and its relatives

Eocene

Where Architectonicidae and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

2,918 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 657 sites for Architectonicidae, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

268 references

Each of the 1,530 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 256 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Architectonicidae

Credit
Marie Hennion
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itArchitectonicoidea through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1850