Stenothecidae
Extinct family of molluscs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stenothecidae is an extinct family of fossil univalved Cambrian molluscs which may be either gastropods or monoplacophorans.
| Stenothecidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | †Helcionelloida |
| Order: | †Helcionelliformes |
| Superfamily: | †Yochelcionelloidea |
| Family: | †Stenothecidae Runegar & Jell, 1980[2] |
| Genera | |
|
See text | |
The name of this taxon should not be confused with that of the class Stenothecoida, a group of problematic Cambrian invertebrates that have a bivalved (dorsal and ventral) shell.[1]
Morphology
Taxonomy
The taxonomic position of the group is unclear;[4] it has been classified as a Yochelcionelloid or Helcionelloid.[5] It is not obviously in the stem group of any modern molluscan class, and has been referred to the monoplacophora,[3] although the monoplacophora are no longer considered to be a clade, and thus that classification means little more than "primitive mollusc".[6]
Genera
The family Stenothecidae consists of two subfamilies and the following genera:
- Stenothecinae Runegar & Jell, 1980 - synonym: Mellopegmidae Missarzhevsky, 1989[7]
- Stenotheca Salter [in Hicks], 1872 – type genus of the family Stenothecidae
- Mellopegma Runegar & Jell, 1976
- Watsonellinae Parkhaev, 2001[5]
- Watsonella Grabau, 1900[8] – type genus of the subfamily Watsonellinae
- Watsonella crosbyi Grabau – type species of the genus Watsonella
- Watsonella Grabau, 1900[8] – type genus of the subfamily Watsonellinae
