Athleta elevata

Athleta elevata

(J. de C. Sowerby, 1840)

Common name Volute
Fossil group Molluscs
Order Neogastropoda
Family Volutidae
Genus Athleta
Taxonomic status Accepted
Geological age Ypresian

Summary

Athleta elevata was a predatory volute that lived on the soft London Clay seabed. Like living volutes, it was probably an active hunter, moving over or shallowly through sediment on a muscular foot and using a proboscis and radula to tackle other molluscs or similar benthic prey.

Its exact diet is not preserved, so the mollusc-eating interpretation remains an ecological inference from its relationships. Even so, it represents the mobile predatory gastropod community that shared the seabed with clams, other snails, crustaceans and fishes.

Quick Identification

Look for: a robust volute about twice as high as wide, with six prominent spiral cords on the intermediate whorls, roughly 14 axial ribs on the adult body whorl, coarse crossed sculpture, and a single fold on the columella.

Diagnostic Features

  • Shell is robust and ovoid-fusiform, with a height/width ratio of about 2.0.
  • Intermediate teleoconch whorls carry six principal spiral ribs.
  • The adult last whorl bears about 14 axial ribs.
  • Axial and spiral ribs intersect to form a coarse cancellate or nodular sculpture.
  • The columella bears a single strong fold.

Fossil Details

Typical size
About 30 mm.
Fossil material
Shell, Internal Mould / Cast
Preservation
Outer lip and basal siphonal end are commonly broken, and abrasion can soften the axial and spiral sculpture. Incomplete shells lacking the aperture and shoulder should be identified cautiously.

Similar Species

Recorded Fossil Sites

No fossil-site occurrences have yet been recorded for this species.

Synonyms & Previous Names

Volutocorbis elevata

References

  • Jeffery, P.; Tracey, S. (1997). The Early Eocene London Clay Formation mollusc fauna of the former Bursledon Brickworks, Lower Swanwick, Hampshire. Tertiary Research, 17(3–4), 75–137 View reference
Last Reviewed
20 August 2026 Reviewed by Sam Harris