Maclurites

fossil snail genus
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Share
Share to social media
URL
https://www.britannica.com/animal/Maclurites
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Maclurites, extinct genus of Ordovician gastropods (snails) found as fossils and useful for stratigraphic correlations (the Ordovician Period lasted from about 488 million to 444 million years ago). The shell is distinctively coiled and easily recognized. Maclurites also had an operculum, or second shell, that covered the aperture of the larger body shell. Maclurites is characteristic of a group of early gastropods that first appeared in the Late Cambrian and became extinct at the end of the Ordovician.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Richard Pallardy.