Ampullinidae Cossmann, 1919

Ferrari, S. Mariel, 2013, New Early Jurassic gastropods from west-central Patagonia, Argentina, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 58 (3), pp. 579-593 : 587

Family Ampullinidae Cossmann, 1919 Genus Globularia Swainson, 1840

Type species: Ampullaria sigaretina Lamarck, 1804 , from the Eocene of France .

Remarks.—Several species of Globularia were previously assigned to the genus Natica (Family Naticidae ) (e.g., d’Orbigny 1850; Cernohorsky 1871; Hudleston 1877–1896) which appeared in the fossil record in the Early Cretaceous (e.g., Bandel 1993; Tracey et al. 1993; Kase and Ishikawa 2003). Older species of similar morphology have been transferred to Globularia (family Ampullinidae ) (e.g., Cox 1965; Szabó and Jaitly 2004). Moreover, Bandel (1999) pointed out that members of the Jurassic Ampullinidae are actually more closely related to the Cretaceous Pseudamauridae than to the extant Naticidae . According to Bandel (1999) this was evidenced by the genus Ampullospira Harris, 1897 from the English Middle Jurassic, having similar ontogeny as Pseudamaura Fischer, 1885 from the Cretaceous. Ampullospira is the type genus of the Ampullospiridae (a synonym of Ampullinidae ), and therefore the entire groups should be removed from the Naticidae . Ampullinidae may actually belong to the stem group of the Pseudamauridae or both groups might be even synonymous ( Bandel 1999). Subsequently, Dieni (2008) argued that Naticidae and Ampullinidae are unrelated from the phylogenetic point of view.

Globularia is an extint representative of Ampullinidae (which, according to Kase and Ishikawa 2003; Dieni 2008, its sole extant species is Cerninia fluctuata Sowerby, 1825 ) and has an abundant fossil record in the Mesozoic worldwide. Members of this genus, ascribed by previous authors to Natica were reported from the Early Jurassic of South America, extending its southernmost occurrence to the Chubut province ( Feruglio 1934; Wahnish 1942). The species referred to Natica from the Jurassic of South America are no longer considered as real representatives of Naticidae and thus are transferred to Globularia .

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Triassic?, Jurassic– Holocene; Cosmopolitan.