Click on the image to zoom
Murihikurhynchia carolinae: a rare specimen from Highfield Farm
To date, only one find of this species has turned up, and because of its rather distinctive shape, I am reasonably certain that I would have noticed more if they existed. It can therefore be assumed that it is rare. GNS's Fossil Record Electronic Database (FRED), which records all formally recognised finds, also includes only two finds of Murihikurhynchia carolinae from the Nelson area, though five occurrences of its sister species (M. pitfurensis) have been reported. Both species seem to be confined to the Oretian stage of the Late Triassic.
Recognition of Murihikurhunchia, and separation from other Rhynchonellida, is not easy and depends on some very subtle features. However, identification of this specimen was kindly made by Dr. MacFarlan, who has written the definitive treatise on Triassic Rhynchonella in New Zealand, so the naming is assured. His description of the genus Murihikurhynchia is shown in the panel, right. |
Murihikurhynchia carolinae
|