Rotularia
{{Short description|Genus of annelids}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Kimmeridgian|Eocene}} (Jäger, 2004)
| image = Rotularia concava DCM.JPG
| image_caption =Rotularia concava fossil
| taxon = Rotularia
| authority = Defrance, 1827
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
}}
Rotularia is an extinct genus of planispirally coiled fossil polychaete worms in the family Serpulidae. Owing to the gastropod-like shape of Rotularia, many authors in the past interpreted this genus as being sea snails in the family Vermetidae.{{Cite book |last=Fortey |first=Richard A. |url= |title=Fossils: The Key to the Past |date=1991 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-31135-0 |page=84 |language=en}} Like many other members from Vermetidae the Rotularia is approximately 5 inches in length. This is an estimate from the 151 confirmed fossil discoveries.
Description
All Rotularia species were cemented to the substrate during their earliest growth stage, but they became detached shortly after the formation of the first whorls (Savazzi, 1995).{{Cite book |last=Sieveking |first=G. de G. |url= |title=The Scientific Study of Flint and Chert: Proceedings of the Fourth International Flint Symposium Held at Brighton Polytechnic 10-15 April 1983 |last2=Hart |first2=M. B. |date=2011-07-14 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-16915-8 |page=64 |language=en}} Rotularia originates in shallow marine environments.{{Cite book |last=Zealand |first=The Royal Society of New |url= |title=New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics |publisher=The Royal Society of New Zealand |page=1040 |language=en}} Their tubes have two layers with different microstructure (Vinn, 2008). This genus is known from the early Kimmeridgian to Late Eocene (Jäger, 2004).
References
{{Reflist}}
- Jäger, M. 2004. Serpulidae und Spirorbidae (Polychaeta sedentaria) aus Campan und Maastricht von Norddeutschland, den Niederlanden, Belgien und angrenzenden Gebieten. Geologisches Jahrbuch (A) 157, 121–249.
- Savazzi, E. 1995. Morphology and mode of life of the polychaete Rotularia. Paläontologische Zeitschrift 69, 73–85.
- {{cite journal | doi = 10.1666/06-125.1 | title = Tube ultrastructure of the fossil genus Rotularia Defrance, 1827 (Polychaeta, Serpulidae) | year = 2008 | author = Vinn, O. | journal = Journal of Paleontology | volume = 82 | issue = 1 | pages = 206–212 | bibcode = 2008JPal...82..206V | s2cid = 129387553 | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222089803 | accessdate = 2014-06-12}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2221495}}
Category:Paleogene animals of Africa
Category:Prehistoric annelid genera
Category:Kimmeridgian genus first appearances
Category:Eocene genus extinctions
Category:Late Jurassic invertebrates
Category:Late Cretaceous invertebrates
Category:Paleocene invertebrates
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1827
Category:Early Cretaceous invertebrates
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