Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand abstracts

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The paleoaustral genus Protodolium Wilckens, 1922 (Mollusca: Gastropoda), and a new species from the Late Cretaceous of Chatham Islands, New Zealand

Jeffrey D. Stilwell*

The paleoaustral genus Protodolium Wilckens, 1922, was an important element in the gastropod fauna of the western sector of the Gondwana Realm during Campanian to Maastrichtian time (Late Cretaceous). Previously thought to be endemic to New Zealand, Protodolium is now recognised in inferred Campanian rocks of New Caledonia for the first time, and also in uppermost Cretaceous rocks of Chatham Islands, Southwest Pacific. As a result of renewed interest in Protodolium which has not been studied in any detail for 70 years, a new species has come to light, Protodolium pittensis, described here from the Kahuitara Tuff, Pitt Island, Chatham Islands. Long believed to be a member of Tonnidae (Tonnacea), Protodolium is now reallocated to Neritopsidae (Neritacea). Protodolium species, previously thought to be carnivores, were probably epifaunal herbivores in the littoral to sublittoral zone shallower than mid shelf.

Keywords: Protodolium, Mollusca, Gastropoda, fossil, new species, Neritopsidae, paleoaustral, Late Cretaceous, Campanian, Maastrichtian, New Zealand, Chatham Islands, New Caledonia, Gondwana

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