Scenella

{{Short description|Genus of molluscs (fossil)}}

{{Taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Cambrian Stage 3|Late Ordovician|ref=}}

| image = Scenella tenuistriata.png

| image_caption = Dorsal view of the shell of Scenella tenuistriata

| image2 = Scenella tenuistriata 2.png

| image2_caption = Lateral view of the shell of Scenella tenuistriata

| regnum = Animalia

| phylum = Mollusca

| ordo =

| superfamilia = † Scenelloidea

| familia = † Scenellidae

| familia_authority = S. A. Miller, 1889Miller S. A. (after October 1889). North American geology and palaeontology: 389.

| genus= Scenella

| genus_authority = Billings, 1872

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| synonyms_ref = Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdés Á. & Warén A. 2005. [http://www.vliz.be/Vmdcdata/imis2/ref.php?refid=78278 Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families]. Malacologia: International Journal of Malacology, 47(1-2). ConchBooks: Hackenheim, Germany. {{ISBN|3-925919-72-4}}. ISSN 0076-2997. 397 pp.

| synonyms =

• Helcionellinae Wenz, 1938
• Hampilinae Kobayashi, 1958
• Securiconidae Missarzhevsky, 1989

}}

Scenella is an extinct genus of fossil invertebrate animal which is generally considered to be a mollusc; at various times it has been suggested that this genus belongs with the gastropods, the monoplacophorans, or the helcionellids, although no firm association with any of these classes has been established.{{cite journal | year = 1984 | last1 = Yochelson | first1 = E. L. | last2 = Cid | first2 = D. G. L. | title = Reevaluation of the systematic position of Scenella | journal = Lethaia|volume =17 |issue =4 | pages = 331–340 | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120036307/abstract | doi = 10.1111/j.1502-3931.1984.tb00679.x| doi-broken-date = 3 April 2025 | url-access = subscription }}{{dead link|date=February 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} An affinity with the hydrozoa (as a flotation device) has been considered, although some authors oppose this hypothesis.{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1017/s0022336000033837| journal = Journal of Paleontology| year = 1992| volume = 66| issue = 2| title = Scenella and "A Chondrophorine (Medusoid Hydrozoan) from the Basal Cambrian (Placentian) of Newfoundland"| author = Landing| author2 = Narbonne| jstor = 1305918| pages = 338| bibcode = 1992JPal...66..338L| s2cid = 132296800}} A gastropod affinity is defended on the basis of six pairs of internal muscle scars,{{Cite journal| journal = Journal of Paleontology| year = 1954| volume = 28| issue = 1| title = Internal Shell Structures in the Middle Cambrian Gastropod Scenella and the Problematic Genus Stenothecoides| author = Rasetti| jstor = 1300208| pages = 59–66}} whilst the serially-repeated nature of these scars suggests to other authors a monoplacophoran affinity. However the specimens showing this scarring have not been convincingly shown to belong to the genus Scenella. A similarity to the Ediacaran Ovatoscutum has also been drawn.{{cite journal|author = Benjamin M. Waggoner|author2= Allen G. Collins|title = A new chondrophorine (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the Cadiz Formation (Middle Cambrian) of California|journal = Paläontologische Zeitschrift|issn = 0031-0220|doi = 10.1007/BF02985970|pages = 7–17|issue = 1–2 |date = March 1995|volume = 69|bibcode= 1995PalZ...69....7W|s2cid= 128662109}}