Revisione delle cipree (Mollusca, Cypraeoidea) mesozoiche italiane

Abstract

The author presents the revision of the 17 specimens of Mesozoic cypraeids found in Italy, following the direct re-examination of the specimens, three of which are currently lost. The review led to the identification of only six formally valid species, belonging to four genera: (i) Palaeocypraea tithonica and (ii) Bernaya gemmellaroi, from the Tithonian of Termini Imerese and the Island of Capri; (iii), Bernaya apenninica (not Cypraea retusa, preoccupied name) from the Cenomanian of the Ocre Mountains; (iv) Cypraea pustulifera, from the Cenomanian of the Ocre Mountains; (v) Bernaya molisana sp. nov., from the Turonian-Senonian of the Matese. Furthermore, direct examination of the types allowed me to definitively establish that (vi) Bernaya (Protocypraea) striata, also from the Cenomanian of the Ocre Mountains, belongs to the genus Ovula. From a paleoecological and evolutionary point of view, it is confirmed that the first fossil forms of cowries date back to the Jurassic and began to diversify in the Cretaceous in the Mesozoic reef environment characterized by high energy, thanks precisely to the tiny dimensions, as well as the thickness and shape, almost hemispheroidal, very slightly elongated in the longitudinal direction, of their convoluted niche. Finally, we underline the importance of the two forms from the Tithonian age, which represent the oldest cowrie taxa known today, Palaeocypraea tithonica and Bernaya gemmellaroi.