Eurytellina solitaria is a species of bivalve, a marine mollusc in the family Tellinidae. Fossils of the species date to the Waipipian stage (3.70 million years ago) of the late Pliocene in New Zealand, and are only known from fossil deposits from the coast of the South Taranaki Bight near Hāwera.
Description
In the original description, Powell described the species as follows:
The holotype of the species has a height of , a length of , and a thickness of for a single valve.
Taxonomy
The species was first described by A. W. B. Powell in 1931. Powell placed the species in the genus Eurytellina due to properties of the hinge, including the obsolete flexure, feeble concentric sculpture, presence of lateral teeth and elongate-oval outline, being similar to those of the extant American species E. punicea. Phillip A. Maxwell in 2009 noted that the species' inclusion in the genus was uncertain. The holotype was collected in January 1931 by Powell from the mouth of the Waihi Stream near Hāwera, South Taranaki. It is held in the collections of Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Distribution
This extinct marine species occurs in the late Pliocene Waipipian stage (3.70 million years ago) in New Zealand, including the Tangahoe Formation.
References