ANCHURA

genus of extinct marine gastropods (snails) found as fossils only in marine deposits of Cretaceous age (between 144 and 66.4 million years old). It is thus a useful guide or index fossil because it is easily recognizable. The shell whorls are globular and ornamented with raised crenulations; the spire is sharply pointed; the body whorl, the final and largest whorl, has a prominently extended outer lip.