Paleonet: New Conus Publication Available

[Paula M Mikkelsen]

Paleontological Research Institution is proud to announce publication
of *Bulletins
of American Paleontology*, no. 375, "The genus *Conus *(Mollusca:
Neogastropoda) in the Plio-Pleistocene of the southeastern United States,"
by Jonathan R. Hendricks (178 pp., 20 pls., ISBN 978-0-87710-482-7). See the
full abstract below. The retail price is US $60.00. Please email me directly
for a proforma invoice or order online at www.priweb.org. Members of PRI and
booksellers should contact me first to receive discount prices for this and
other publications of PRI.

Abstract: *Conus *(or cone) shells are common in many Pliocene and
Pleistocene fossil deposits from the Coastal Plain of the southeastern
United States, but have never been the subjects of a comprehensive taxonomic
review or revision. In total, 84 names (including those of some Recent
species and fossil taxa from other strata or areas) have been applied to
Plio-Pleistocene cone shells from this region, and since Green described *Conus
marylandicus* in 1830, an additional 59 species have been described from
these strata. Forty of these taxa were described in the last 17 years and
were published outside of the peer-reviewed literature, making their status
as distinct species suspect, particularly because most are poorly
illustrated, perfunctorily described, and based on few specimens. This makes
them nearly impossible to evaluate without direct inspection of type
material and/or access to large suites of specimens. Evaluating whether
these suspect taxon names represent distinctive morphospecies is critical to
attaining an understanding of the evolutionary history and diversity of
Neogene and Recent *Conus* in the western Atlantic. The present work
provides a systematic treatment of 82 of the 84 names that have been applied
to *Conus *shells from the Plio-Pleistocene fossil records of Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida. Here, through application of a
conservative morphological species concept (one that accepts large amounts
of intraspecific morphological variation), 19 of these nominal taxa are
accepted as representing distinctive species of Plio-Pleistocene *Conus *from
this study area. In addition, this investigation also resulted in the
discovery of one new fossil morphospecies, described here as *Conus burnetti
* n. sp. An identification key to these 20 species is provided. The status
of three additional, previously described species (known only by their type
specimens) remains less certain. Two names that are likely familiar to
collectors of Plio-Pleistocene *Conus *from the United States Coastal Plain,
*C. floridanus* Gabb, 1869, and *C. druidi *Olsson, 1967, are synonymized,
respectively, with* C.* cf. *largillierti* Kiener, 1845, and *C. haytensis *G.
B. Sowerby II, 1850. All previously described species of sinistral *Conus *are
considered to belong to one highly morphologically variable species, *C.
adversarius* Conrad, 1840.

********************************************
Paula M. Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Science
and Director of Publications
Paleontological Research Institution
1259 Trumansburg Road
Ithaca, NY 14850
Tel. (607) 273-6623, ext. 20
Fax (607) 273-6620
email  pmm37 at cornell.edu

"No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone else's
draft."  -H. G. Wells

See "Seashells of Southern Florida: Living Marine Mollusks of the Florida
Keys and Adjacent Regions: Bivalves,"
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8484.html

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