ASGP (2025), vol. 95: 93–118
STEM CYPRAEID GASTROPODS – A REVISION OF THE GENUS ZITTELIA GEMMELLARO, 1869
Sofia BAKAYEVA (1,2*), Carolina D’ARPA (3), Didier BERTHET (4), Krzysztof HRYNIEWICZ (1), Alexander NÜTZEL (5,6,7) & Andrzej KAIM (1)
1) Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warsaw, Poland; e-mail: sofiyabakayeva@gmail.com, krzyszth@twarda.pan.pl, kaim@twarda.pan.pl
2) State Museum of Natural History of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Teatralna St. 18, Lviv 79008, Ukraine
3) Museo Geologico G.G. Gemmellaro, SiMuA, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Corso Tukory 131, 90100 Palermo, Italy; e-mail: carolina.darpa@unipa.it
4) Musée des Confluences, 86 quai Perrache, 69002 Lyon, France; e-mail: didier.berthet@museedesconfluences.fr
5) SNSB-Bayerische Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München (Germany), e-mail: nuetzel@snsb.de
6) Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Palaeontology & Geobiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München (Germany)
7) GeoBio-Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Richard-Wagner-Str. 10, 80333 München (Germany)
*) Corresponding author
Bakayeva, S., D’Arpa, C., Berthet, D., Hryniewicz, K., Nützel, A. & Kaim, A., 2025. Stem cypraeid gastropods – a revision of the genus Zittelia Gemmellaro, 1869. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 95: 93–118.
Abstract: Zittelia is an extinct genus of the family Colombellinidae, which originally was described from the Upper Jurassic–?Lower Cretaceous (Tithonian–?Valanginian) of Sicily, Italy, and subsequently reported from several localities across Europe. Its shell is oval, with a thickened, siphonostomatous peristome, a narrow, slit-like aperture displaying distinct abapical sinuosity, and a denticulate outer lip that is bent outward. In contrast to members of the Cypraeidae, the shells of which are convolute, the spire of Zittelia remains elevated. A thorough examination of the type material has enabled a comprehensive revision of the taxonomic composition of the genus and clarification of its diagnostic characteristics. Species of Zittelia share morphological affinities with Colombellina, the type genus of the Colombellinidae, and are closely related to early representatives of the cypraeids. This is reflected in changes in the shell morphology of Zittelia during the Late Jurassic, including a progressive enlargement of the last whorl, elongation of the aperture, and a substantial expansion of the columellar lip. The species most closely resembling early cypraeids is the type species, Zittelia cipraeaeformis Gemmellaro, 1869, which possesses a broadly expanded columellar lip and a low spire. The occurrence of Zittelia is restricted to peri-Tethyan carbonate facies. Its co-occurrence with the earliest cypraeids in the uppermost Jurassic of Sicily indicates that the Late Jurassic reefs and associated lagoons of the Tethys may have served as centres of diversification for the Colombellinidae and as potential areas of emergence for the Cypraeoidea.
Manuscript received 21 May 2025, accepted 8 August 2025
