Pseudotomidae

Pseudotomidae; Temporal range:
	Pseudotoma intorta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	†Pseudotomidae; Bellardi, 1875
Type genus
	Pseudotoma; Bellardi, 1875
Genera
	See text
Synonyms
	Pseudotominae Bellardi, 1875;

Pseudotomidae is a taxonomic family of extinct minute sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Conoidea.^[1]

Taxonomy

Pseudotomidae was first described in 1875 by Luigi Bellardi as Pseudotominae, a subfamily of Pleurotomidae.^[2] Pseudotominae was later assigned to the family Turridae,^[3] and in 2011 synonymised with the family Borsoniidae.^[4] In the following year, A.G. Beu, Sascha Nolden and Thomas A. Darragh tentatively proposed Pseudotomidae as a family, awaiting molecular analysis.^[5]

The taxon was revived in 2025 by Ronald Janssen and Gerhard Stein and elevated to family status, based on arguments by A.G. Beu and P. A. Maxwell in 1990.^[6] Beu and Maxwell felt that Marshallaria, Pseudotoma, Notogenota and other genera in Pseudotominae represented the most primitive subfamily of Turridae.^[3]

Ecology

Pseudotomidae fossils have typically been found in areas which were formerly deep waters.^[3]

Distribution

Fossils in the family occur in strata from between the Paleocene and the Pleistocene, and have been found in Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, Greenland, New Zealand, and the United States (Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Virginia and Washington).^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

Genera

Genera within the family Pseudotomidae include:^[1]

† Austrotoma H. J. Finlay, 1924
† Marshallaria H. J. Finlay & Marwick, 1937
† Notogenota A. W. B. Powell, 1942
† Pseudotoma Bellardi, 1875
† Tahuia P. A. Maxwell, 1992
† Zeatoma P. A. Maxwell, 1992

Genera brought into synonymy

Acamptogenotia Rovereto, 1899: synonym of Pseudotoma Bellardi, 1875
Pseudotomina H. J. Finlay, 1924: synonym of Pseudotoma Bellardi, 1875

Gallery

Austrotoma minor
Marshallaria waitakiensis
Notogenota finlayi
Pseudotoma coronata
Zeatoma anomala

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Pseudotomidae Bellardi, 1875 †. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 20 January 2026.
^ Bellardi, L. (1875). "Novae pleurotomidarum Pedimonti et Liguriae fossilium: dispositionis prodromus". Bullettino della Società Malacologica Italiana (in Latin). 1: 19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Beu, A.G.; Maxwell, P.A. (1990). "New Zealand Cenozoic Mollusca" (PDF). New Zealand Geological Survey Paleontological Bulletin. 58: 396. ISSN 0114-2283.
^ Bouchet, P.; Kantor, Yu.I.; Sysoev, A.; Puillandre, N. (2011). "A new operational classification of the Conoidea". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 77: 273–308. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyr017.
^ Beu, Alan G.; Nolden, Sascha; Darragh, Thomas A. (2012). "Revision of New Zealand Cenozoic fossil Mollusca described by Zittel (1865) based on Hochstetter's collections from the Novara Expedition". Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists. 43: 59.
^ Janssen, R; Stein, G. (2025). "Die Molluskenfauna des Obermiozäns (Langenfeldium s. lat.; Tortonium) von Groß Pampau (Schleswig-Holstein)". Palaeontos (in German). 36: 120.
^ "†Austrotoma Finlay 1924 (snail)". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
^ "†Marshallaria Finlay and Marwick 1937 (cone shell)". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
^ "†Genota (Pseudotoma) Bellardi 1875". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 22 January 2026.
^ Maxwell, P.A. (2009). "Cenozoic Mollusca". In Gordon, D.P. (ed.). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press. p. 249-250. ISBN 978-1-877257-72-8.