Conus palmerae   (Hendricks & Portell, 2008)

 

 

 

 

Diagnosis:

Teleoconch whorls stepped; early postnuclear whorls smooth; sutural ramps tvpicallv smooth; last whorl smooth.

 

Description:

Shell small to moderately large-sized (up to about 65 mm in length). Last whorl conical; outline slightlv concave. Shoulder sharplv angulate, smooth. Spire of moderate height; outline concave to straight. Teleoconch whorls stepped; spire angle of early-whorls typically obtuse relative to later whorls. Larval shell unknown.  Early postnuclear whorls smooth. Subsutural flexure symmetrically curved. Teleoconch sutural ramps concave and typically smooth, though occasionaly 2 or 3 weak spiral threads are present. Aperture morphology unknown. Last whorl typically smooth, though fine spiral lines may cover the last whorl of some small specimens.

 

Type Specimens: Holotype UF 108858 (Figures 23, 24), a specimen originallv described as "Conus sp. B" by Palmer in Richards and Palmer (1953: 40, pl. 2, fig. 14).

The holotype is preserved as a calcite-replaced shell. All paratopes are moldic (consisting of just extenial or external and internal molds) and include: UF 15886, UF 18599 (Figure 25), UF 18711, UF 18719, UF 18737 (Figure 26), UF 57018, UF 66738 (Figure 27), UF 68306 (Figure 28), UF 74473 (Figures 29, 30), UF 110360, UF 111327, and UF 112981.

 

Type Locality and Occurrence:

The Holotype (UF 108858; Figures 23, 24) is from the lower member of the Ocala Limestone (formerly the Inglis Formation) at UF locality LV014, Gulf Hammock 02, Levy Countv, Florida.

Richards and Palmer (1953; 5) described the locality (R. O. Vernon's L-93) as a "road metal pit 2.9 miles south of the north limits of the town of Gulf Hammock just southwest of State Road 55 in the southwest quarter of Section 34, Township 14 South, Range 16 East."

The paratvpe specimens are from Alachua County  (UF 68.306, UF 74473, UF 111.327, and UF 112981, UF locality AL004, Dickerson Limerock Mines, Ocala Limestone; UF 18599, UF locality AL016, S.M. Wall Quarry 01, Ocala Limestone; UF 15886, UF locality AL017, Newberry Coiporation Pit 01, Ocala Limestone; and UF 66738, UF locality- AL028, Newbeny 03, Ocala Limestone) and Lafayette County (UF 18711, UF 18719, UF 18737, UF 57018, and UF 110360, UF locality LFOO1, Dell Limerock Mine, Ocala Limestone).

Thus, all specimens of C. palmerae are from the upper Eocene, Jaeksonian Ocala Limestone of Florida.

 

Etymology:

This species is named in honor of Katherine V. W. Palmer (1895-1982), second director of the Paleontological Research Institution (Ithaca, NY), who was the first to recognize this form as a new, undescribed species and for her important contributions to Cenozoic paleontology (see Caster, 1983).

 

Discussion:

Palmer (1953) did not describe UF 108858 as a new taxon because she did not consider this single damaged shell adequate for this purpose. Newly collected specimens (all molds) are consistent with the gross morphology of Palmers fossil, but offer new morphological details that now justify description td this species.

Conus palmerae co-occurs in the Ocala Limestone with two other late Eocene Conus in Florida: C. sauridens Conrad, 1833, and C alleni new species. Conus palmerae may be distinguished from both of these species by its stepped teleoconch whorls, smooth earlv postnuclear whorls, smooth sutural ramps, and smooth last whorl.

 

 

 

Conus sp.(2)

 

Conus palmerae

Tab. 2 fig. 23-30

Upper Eocene, Jaeksonian Ocala Limestone of Florida

 

 

 


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