Argonauta oweri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Argonauta oweri Temporal range: Pliocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Octopoda |
| Family: | Argonautidae |
| Genus: | Argonauta |
| Species: | †A. oweri |
| Binomial name | |
| †Argonauta oweri | |
Argonauta oweri is an extinct species of argonautid octopus. It is known from the early Pliocene of New Zealand.[1][2][3]
The type specimen, a fossilised eggcase, measures 118 mm in diameter. Its aperture is 95 mm high and 40 mm across at its widest point (though it is slightly crushed).[1] It was collected by John R. Ower of Superior Oil Company (after whom it is named) in a "limy concretionary boulder" in Hautapu River, due west of Flat Spur and 1.4 miles (2.3 km) southeast of Utiku, New Zealand.[1]
The fossil was not found in situ and therefore its parent formation is unknown,[3] though Hautapu River flows exclusively through early Pliocene rocks and according to the describing author "the horizon is almost certainly Waitotaran".[1]
