Stratum.black
Turritella — Turritella
Turritella — Wilson44691, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (US)

Gastropod

Turritella

Tower shell

Turritella is the high-spired tower shell found from the Cretaceous to the present, and the name of the Green River 'turritella agate' from Wyoming (which is actually the freshwater snail Elimia). Cretaceous Turritella from Coon Creek and Eocene ones from Whiskey Bridge are abundant and cheap; polished turritella agate is a lapidary staple. The living genus is now split into several genera, so many fossil 'Turritella' carry other names in WoRMS.

PhylumMollusca
ClassGastropoda
FamilyTurritellidae
GroupGastropod
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorLamarck 1799· Paleobiology Database
Common name (PBDB)turret shell· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Mollusca › Gastropoda › NO_ORDER_SPECIFIED › Turritellidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)247–0 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences5921· Paleobiology Database
Authority (WoRMS)Lamarck, 1799· WoRMS / MolluscaBase
Status (WoRMS)accepted· WoRMS / MolluscaBase
Extinct (WoRMS)no· WoRMS / MolluscaBase
Classification (WoRMS)Animalia › Mollusca › Gastropoda › Caenogastropoda incertae sedis › Turritellidae· WoRMS / MolluscaBase

Photographs

Turritella — Turritella cingulata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825, SYNTYPES (NHMUK 20220522)
Turritella cingulata G. B. Sowerby I, 1825, SYNTYPES (NHMUK 20220522) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0
Turritella — Turritella declivis A. Adams & Reeve, 1849, SYNTYPE(S) (NHMUK 1982185)
Turritella declivis A. Adams & Reeve, 1849, SYNTYPE(S) (NHMUK 1982185) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0
Turritella — Turritella (Torcula) admirabilis R. B. Watson, 1881, HOLOTYPE (NHMUK 1887.2.9.1492)
Turritella (Torcula) admirabilis R. B. Watson, 1881, HOLOTYPE (NHMUK 1887.2.9.1492) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Referenced by

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Turritella" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/turritella. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-turritella,
  title        = {Turritella},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/turritella}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, worms, wikidata, commons, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

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