Gyraulus

Salvador, Rodrigo B., 2014, The fossil land and freshwater snails of Gündlkofen (Middle Miocene, Germany), Zootaxa 3785 (2), pp. 271-287 : 273

Gyraulus sp.

(Figs. 4–5)

Material examined. BSPG 1952 XVIII 16 (1 spcm.).

Description. Shell diminutive, pseudodextral, planispiral. Protoconch flattened; transition to teleoconch unclear. Teleoconch smooth, except for well-marked growth lines. Spire depressed. Suture very deep. Whorls rapidly growing. Whorl profile asymmetrical, with faint keel on lower portion of whorl. Aperture large, rounded.

Previous identification of the material. Gall (1980: Nr. 30): Gyraulus (Gyraulus) trochiformis cf. kleini (Gottschick & Wenz).

Discussion. The single specimen from Gündlkofen is a juvenile and, due to its poor preservation (lacking protoconch sculpture) and the known conchological variation in the genus ( Meier-Brook 1983; Rasser 2013), classification beyond genus level is presently not possible.

Paleoecological remarks. Recent Gyraulus are found in various habitats, so their use in paleoecological analysis is limited; still, they usually thrive in richly vegetated, shallow standing or slow-flowing waters, sometimes even temporary water bodies ( Welter-Schultes 2012).