An unusual Turritella gastropod about 50 million years old from the west coast of the United States

Turritella gastropods are very common shallow-marine fossils. Their geologic time range is from the Cretaceous to modern-day. Their shells are long and narrow, with spiral sculpture (ribs), although some species can have small nodes on the spirals.

During my years as a paleontologist, I have collected many Turritella. One of my favorite subspecies is Turritella meganosensis protumescens (approximately 51 million years old = early Eocene), because it is very unusual in having, at least on the adult part of the shell, only one very thick, spiral rib.

Turritella meganosensis protumescens Merriam and Turner, 1937,

Ventura Co., southern California;

 height of largest specimen 2 1/4 in. (57 mm)

This subspecies of turritellid gastropod has been found in only a few places, and most are in California (two areas in Ventura County and one in Riverside County). It has also been found, however, in southwestern Oregon.

Specimens of this gastropod are associated commonly with coarse-grained sediments (including pebbles), which were deposited in nearshore, high-energy ancient environments. Apparently, the thick shell of T. m. protumescens with its wide spiral rib on the upper part of each whorl was well adapted for these turbulent waters.

Turritella meganosensis protumescens Merriam and Turner, 1937,

Ventura County, southern California;

 height of specimen 2.5 in. (62 mm).

The specimen shown immediately above is the largest specimen I have collected of this turritellid. The early part of its shell is weathered, and, therefore, does not show the spiral ribs that are normally present there.

Squid and Octopus: Pens, Beaks, and Egg Cases

This is the third and last part of my sequence of posts on cephalopods. Squids and octopods are cephalopods with very poor fossil records. The reason for this is that they have either no or very rarely mineralized body parts.

Modern squid pens: longest one is 11.5 cm;

 the short piece of another one is 5 cm long.

Although squids have "plastic-like" internal structures called "pens," these structures consist of chitin, which is compositionally similar to fingernails and toenails of mammals. Chitin is not mineralized material, hence, it does not get preserved. If you have ever cleaned a squid, the pens have to be removed, before you eat the squid. Technically speaking, the squid pens are semi-transparent gladii = the vestigial internal shell of a squid. They are indeed flexible (allowing squids to live in deep water without being crushed) and help support the internal organs, as well as allow for jet propulsion of the squid.

Squid pens are found often in the stomachs of sperm whales, which are predators of cephalopods.

Modern-day squid jaws (tallest one is 3.7 cm height). They came from a 127-cm (50 inches) long squid and were a gift to me from the late Ralph Ferguson, a shell dealer in Long Beach, California.

Squids, like the nautiloid, sepiid, and octopus, have a two-part jaw (beak). The two parts (mandibles) fit together and function in a scissor-like fashion for tearing their prey apart. Squid beaks consist also of chitin.

The geologic history of octopods (octopus) is little known because of the absence of skeletal structures. The earliest presumed fossil is an impression found in Upper Cretaceous rocks. Argonauta is a pelagic octopus, which lives in tropical to subtropical open oceans but close to the sea surface rather than on the seabed.

The female of the octopus genus Argonauta (there are seven living species) produces a very delicate (egg-shell delicate) calcite (calcium carbonate) brood pouch for transport of its eggs. The exterior of this brood pouch resembles the shell of some Mesozoic ammonoids, but the interior of the brood pouch differs by lacking chambers, chambers walls (septa), and a siphuncle. Brood pouches of Argonauta have been found (rarely) in Miocene deposits of California and elsewhere.

Argonauta hians, a modern-day octopus egg case (4.7 cm maximum diameter) from the Indo-Pacific region.

 Same specimen, showing its spacious and hollow interior.

 The egg cases of Argonauta are paper thin and resemble nautiloid shells, hence their common name has become the "paper Nautilus."

Octopus beak, largest jaw (on the right) 1.5 cm length;

 Marina del Rey, southern California.

It is interesting how similar the beaks are in the different groups of cephalopods, yet each member of the group has its own distinctive beak shapes. Compare the octopus beak, shown here, with the squid beak, shown earlier in this post. "Similar, yet different."