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V. Garilli, 2008 Page 45

Emilia Romagna, Modena province, 35 shs, Pliocene, luscan assemblages from the Oligo-Miocene of south-
coll. Doderlein, 111B; Emilia Romagna, Modena prov- western France (Lozouet, 1998; 1999).
ince, 1 sh., Miocene, MGUP coll. Doderlein, 474; Emilia
Romagna, Piacenza, Lugagnano Val d’Arda, 2 shs, “calan- Remarks: Gofas (1999) and Landau et al. (2004), dis-
chi di valle” (marls), middle-upper Pliocene, coll. MF ex cussing and re-describing this species, originally de-
coll. PAL, F13A; Piacenza, Castell’Arquato, Monte Pa- scribed as Manzonia fariai by Rolán and Fernandes
dova, 1 sh., blue clays, middle Pliocene, coll. MF ex coll. (1990) from West Africa, did not recognize its identity as
PAL, F16A; Emilia Romagna, Parma, San Nicomede, Rissoa tiberiana Coppi, 1876, the latter being a common
Stirone river, 50 shs and fragments, lower clays middle- species from the Mediterranean Neogene, particularly
upper Pliocene, coll. MF ex coll. PAL, F14B; Emilia from the Pliocene. This species, originally not illustrated
Romagna, Modena, Marano on the Panaro, Panaro river, by Coppi (1876), was figured by Sacco (1895: figs. 67,
1 sh., clays stormy layers, middle-upper Pliocene, coll. a-bis and 68, a–b), who designated it as the type species
MF ex coll. PAL, F80A; Emilia Romagna, Modena, Ma- of the subgenus Galeodinopsis Sacco, 1895. More re-
ranello, Fogliano, Gagliardella (type locality), Rio Griz- cently, this species was illustrated by Cossmann (1921:
zaga, 60 shs, sands, middle Pliocene, coll. MF ex coll. pl. 1, figs. 55–56) and Wenz (1938: fig. 1715). Compari-
PAL, F39A; Tuscany, Siena, San Donato, Ciuciano, son between fossil material of R. tiberiana (Figures 90–
Prison, 1 sh., clays and sands, lower Pliocene, coll. MF ex 94, also from topotype material; see also Landau et al.,
coll. PAL, F112A; Siena, Castiglioncello del Trinoro, (2004: pl. 7, figs. 3–4), to that of Rolán and Fernandes
Poggio Rotondo, 3 shs, marls, lower Pliocene, coll. MF ex (1990: pl. 1, figs. 4–6), and of Gofas (1999: figs. 39–42)
coll. PAL, F54A; Lazio, Rome, Magliano Sabina, Cla- strongly confirms the above mentioned synonymy. The
docora yellow sands, 23 shs, lower Pliocene, coll. MF ex rather conical, ribbed shell with an inflated last whorl,
coll. PAL, F15A; Sicily, Palermo, Altavilla Milicia, rigth the frequent presence of varices on the last whorl, and
side of Milicia river, 12 shs, sands, lower-middle the double-rimmed outer lip are the most characteristic
Pliocene, coll. MF ex coll. PAL, F2A; Palermo, Partitico, features of this species, which shows a modest variability
Trappeto, Lido Ciammarito to Nocella river mouth, 11 in the number and strength of ribs and in the spire el-
shs, clays, lower Pliocene, coll. MF ex coll. PAL, F72A. evation (see Figures 90–92).

Habitat: In the Atlantic Ocean, the species has a lower Gofas (1999) moved this species from Manzonia Bru-
shelf-upper slope distribution (see Gofas, 1999), is indi- sina, 1870 [type species Manzonia crassa (Kanmacher,
cated by the fossil Mediterranean occurrences. A shal- 1798), see Figures 104–107] to Alvania based on the lack
lower and more restricted distribution, limited to shelf of the characteristic punctate spiral sculpture of the
paleoenvironments, with sandy to muddy bottoms. former taxon. This does not appear appropriate. In fact,
in reasonably well-preserved shells, the primary spiral
Distribution: The species lives in the eastern Atlantic, cords clearly bears a microsculpture consisting of regu-
from Senegal to northern Angola (see also Gofas, 1999). lar, spirally arranged pits, quite like M. crassa (compare
It was also collected from the coasts of Mauritania (S. Figure 99 with Figure 106). This spiral pitted micro-
Palazzi, pers. comm., 2006). The species has a Mediter- sculpture, considered a typical Manzonia character by
ranean Miocene to Pliocene paleoditribution, being re- Moolenbeek and Faber (1987), was indicated by
corded from the Miocene of northern Apennines Bouchet and Warén (1993) as not restricted to this genus
(Modena), the Pliocene of northern (Piemonte, Liguria, (occurring in Alvania, Gofasia Bouchet and Warén,
Toscana, Emilia Romagna), central (Lazio) and insular 1993, and with a rough similarity, in Rissoininae species,
(northwestern Sicily) Italy, south Spain (Estepona) Lan- see Gofas, 1999, figs. 79–80, 85, and 89]). The same
dau et al. (2004, as Alvania fariae), and Algeria (Coss- authors interpreted it as a symplesiomorphy retained in
mann, 1921). In Atlantic, it is recorded from the Portu- Manzonia and in other rissoid genera. However, the par-
guese middle Pliocene of Mondego Basin (Landau et al., ticular structure of the secondary, very fine spiral
2004). The citation of Wenz (1938: 616), according to threads, formed by roughly prismatic elements growing
which the species lived in the Oligocene (up to Pliocene perpendicularly to the shell surface, is a character shared
of Europe, North Africa and North America), should be by the Manzonia species, never observed in Alvania, and
verified. The species was not found in the very rich mol- retained only in the recently described genus Gofasia
(see Bouchet and Warén, 1993, fig. 1557). The combi-

Figures 90–99. Galeodinopsis tiberiana (Coppi, 1876). 90–93. Shells from the type locality, showing variability and varices, middle
Pliocene of Italy, Emilia Romagna, Modena, Maranello, Fogliano, Gagliardella, Rio Grizzaga sands, coll. MF ex coll. PAL (F39A).
94. Profile view of a shell from the middle-upper Pliocene of Italy, Emilia Romagna, Parma, San Nicomede, Stirone River, coll. MF
ex coll. PAL (F14B). 95–96. Protoconchs from the same locality, note variation of the abapical sculpture just behind the transiction
to teleoconch. 97. Detail of protoconch I, showing the netted microsculpture and the partially immersed nucleus, same shell as
Figure 95. 98. Detail of teleoconch sculpture from the shell as Figure 90. 99. Detail of teleoconch microsculpture from the shell as
Figures 95–96; note the pitted pattern on the spiral cord and the structure of the fine spiral ridges. Scale bars: 1 mm in Figures 90–94;
100 ␮m in Figures 95–96; 50 ␮m in Figure 98; 20 ␮m in Figures 97, 99. Black and white arrows indicate the protoconch I/protoconch
II and protoconch/teleoconch boundaries, respectively.