CMNH 15178, Pulalius vulgaris (Rathbun, 1926)

3D Model

CMNH 15178, Pulalius vulgaris (Rathbun, 1926) in half of a 11.7 cm. long concretion.

Age: Oligocene Rock unit: Lincoln Creek Formation

Locality: Porter, Grays Harbor Co., Washington

Date collected: 1973 or earlier Donor: Owen J. Ruic

This taxon is in the extinct family Tumidocarcinidae within the extant superfamily Carpilioidea. The superfamily exhibited its highest diversity in the Eocene but dwindled to the present. Modern forms prefer warm tropical oceans. Pulalius spp. are only known from the Pacific northwest but the family exhibited an antitropical distribution, preferring temperate or cooler waters. Thanks to Dr. Carrie Schweitzer, Kent State University Dept. of Geology, for taxon information.

Image by Jacob Kordeleski, CMNH Dept of Archaeology // Hawken School