On the genus Vanikoropsis Meek, 1876 (Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda) from the Paleocene of Denmark and West Greenland with descriptions of three new species

Abstract

The predominantly Cretaceous gastropod genus Vanikoropsis Meek, 1876 is represented in the Paleocene of Denmark and West Greenland by four species, of which three are established herein as new, viz. Vanikoropsis mortenseni n. sp., Vanikoropsis (s.l.) jakobseni n. sp. and Vanikoropsis (s.l.) bashforthi n. sp. The Danish species was found in a boulder of Kerteminde Marl (Selandian, middle Paleocene) from Gundstrup, while the species from West Greenland were found in the localities Sonja Lens and Qaarsutjægerdal on the Nuussuaq peninsula (late Danian, early Paleocene). The Danish species extends the stratigraphic range of the genus into the middle Paleocene and supports the affinities of the Kerteminde Marl fauna to the Paleocene fauna of West Greenland.