New structural homologies identified in the muricid shells are used in a cladistic analysis and enable the separation of Eofavartia nov. gen. [range: Ypresian to Priabonian (North America and Europe)] from the Muricopsinae Favartia [new range: Rupelian (North-America) to Recent]. Eofavartia has plesiomorphic character states (developed cord P6, P6 on the base of the convex part of the whorl and the presence of D6), which are apomorphic in Favartia and other Muricopsinae. The cladistic analysis suggests that Eofavartia and Homalocantha are potential sister groups of the Muricopsinae.
Eofavartia , Muricidae, Palaeogene, Atlantic, diversification, homology