Abstract
The oldest recorded fossil Cypraeidae from southern Florida date from the late Zanclean-early Piacenzian Pliocene (circa 3.8-3.6 million years ago - hereinafter “mya”) in the Myakka Lagoon System, a shallow water estuary that lies beneath the present day Sarasota area. Shallow water sea grass beds and nascent shoreline mangrove forests hosted seven Cypraeidae species in five genera. Determining the origins of these species is challenging as only steinkern casts have been found in adjacent lower layers. However, enough features are present in two of the casts to infer the ancestral presence of two of the genera. For the other genera and species, a comparison of features with the northern Florida Panhandle Cypraeidae populations dating from the Burgdigalian Miocene (16-20 mya) does suggest certain affinities. However, no direct lineage can be asserted with any confidence. The sea bed deposit layer of this period has been designated the Buckingham Member of the Tamiami Formation of southern Florida.
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