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Tonnidae
| Description | The Tonnidae are a family of medium-sized to very large sea snails, known as the tun shells. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The name "tun" refers to the snails' shell shape which resembles wine casks known as "tuns". While the shells are thin, they are also strong. There is no operculum. They are found in all tropical seas, where they inhabit sandy areas. During the day, they bury themselves in the substrate, emerging at night to feed on echinoderms (especially sea cucumbers), crustaceans, and bivalves. Some larger species also capture fish, using their expandable probosces to swallow them whole. Females lay rows of eggs that become free-swimming larvae for several months before settling to the bottom. From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnidae, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source Data |
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| Rank | family | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (GBIF) | Life : Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Littorinimorpha : Tonnidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomy (PBDB) | Life : Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Tonnidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxonomic Status (GBIF) | accepted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classification (PBDB,GBIF) |
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| Common Name | tun shell | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Scientific Name | Tonnidae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opinions (PBDB) |
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| Status (PBDB) | extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taxon Size (PBDB) | 30 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Extant Size (PBDB) | 16 (53%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Recorded Appearance | 59.2 - 47.8 Ma Paleogene | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Motility | actively mobile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vision | limited (based on Gastropoda) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Diet | carnivore | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ecospace Comments | LIFE HISTORY: Predatory carnivore according to Todd (2001). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taphonomy | aragonite (based on Gastropoda) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primary Reference (PBDB) | P. L. Beesley. 1998. Mollusca: the southern synthesis. Fauna of Australia 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Name(s) | Tun Shell, Fassschnecken, Cask Shells, Tun Shells, Tun Snails, ヤツシロガイ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonnidae |
Fossil Distribution
Subtaxa
| Name | Status | Common Name(s) | Fossil Occurrences | Oldest | Youngest |
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| Tonninae subfamily | listed (PBDB) | 0 Ma Extant | |||
| Eudolium genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 25 | 23.0 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Malea genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 220 | 23.0 Ma Miocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Tonna genus | accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB) | 101 | 59.2 Ma Paleocene | 0 Ma Extant | |
| Oniscia chavani species | accepted (GBIF) | No associated record in PBDB | |||
Obsolete Names
| Name | Source | Taxon Rank | Taxonomy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doliidae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Littorinimorpha : Doliidae |
| Macgillivrayiidae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Littorinimorpha : Macgillivrayiidae |
| Galeodoliidae | GBIF | family | Animalia : Mollusca : Gastropoda : Littorinimorpha : Galeodoliidae |
Synonymy List
| Year | Name and Author |
|---|---|
| 1913 | Tonnidae Suter |
| 1988 | Tonnidae Ponder and Warén p. 302 |
| 1998 | Tonnidae Beesley p. 802 |
| 2001 | Tonnidae Todd |
| 2005 | Tonnidae Beu p. 106 |
| 2005 | Tonnidae Bouchet et al. p. 253 |
| 2010 | Tonnidae Beu |
| 2010 | Tonnidae Landau and Marques da Silva p. 49 |
References
Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!
