Southeast Asia as the birthplace of unusual traits: the Melongenidae (Gastropoda) of northwest Borneo

In this paper the Miocene to recent melongenid species of northwest Borneo are discussed. The recent fauna is poor with three genera represented by one species each. In the Miocene three (possibly four) genera occur with eight (possibly nine) species of which three are described as new species: Melongena murifactor, uniquely characterized by the formation of a septum walling off the adapical sector of the aperture; Pugilina erecta, characterized (along with its close Miocene relative from Java, P. ickei) by a free-edged, erect inner lip; Volema goliath, large for the genus with later whorls progressively covering the upper row of spines of earlier whorls. The apertural septum of M. murifactor is unique within Gastropoda, whereas the erect inner lip of P. erecta and P. ickei is unique within Melongenidae. That these extralimital traits occur exclusively in the Miocene of southeast Asia is consistent with the hypothesis that adaptive innovations are most likely to arise in diverse, productive, shallow-water ecosystems.