Oliva sayana Gastropod Shell

This shell was found in 1889 by a 17 year old Lucien Beckner (1873-1963) in Naples, Florida USA. Mr. Beckner was a mentor to Professor James Conkin (1924-2017) and his natural history collection was left to him upon his death.

I think the shell pictured in this posting is a Lettered Olive Snail or Oliva sayana (Ravenel, 1834). 

Lucien Beckner was born into an established Kentucky family in 1873. He attended Louisville Military Academy, Centre College, the University of Kentucky and Transylvania College. Later he practiced law in Winchester, Kentucky as well as serving as a newspaper editor there. Next he worked as a geologist at the Kentucky Geological Survey and with Louisville Gas and Electric. He switched careers and worked as an engineer with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and then helped build a railroad in Ecuador.

In 1933, he became curator of the Louisville Museum of Natural History and Science at the Louisville Free Public Library. He held that position for 26 years helping educate the Louisville area community about natural history. He is buried at Winchester Cemetery in Clark County, Kentucky, USA.

 

Florida Pear Whelk Shell

Recently, I was given to a small bag of seashells that was in the possession of a long time University of Louisville geology professor James Conkin (1924-2017). The shells were found in 1889 by a 17 year old Lucien Beckner (1873-1963). The bag was labeled that the shells were found in Naples, Florida USA. Mr. Beckner was a mentor to Professor Conkin and his natural history collection was left to him upon his death.

While I am not an expert, I think the shell pictured in this posting is a Florida Pear Whelk or Fulguropsis pyruloides (Say, 1822). This species was named by early American naturalist Thomas Say (1787-1834) who is buried in New Harmony, Indiana (several hours drive west of Louisville, Kentucky).

Hopefully, I can identify all the shells in the bag and properly document them and then find them a good home somewhere in Louisville.

 Lucien Beckner was born into an established Kentucky family in 1873. He attended Louisville Military Academy, Centre College, the University of Kentucky and Transylvania College. Later he practiced law in Winchester, Kentucky as well as serving as a newspaper editor there. Next he worked as a geologist at the Kentucky Geological Survey and with Louisville Gas and Electric. He switched careers and worked as an engineer with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and then helped build a railroad in Ecuador.

In 1933, he became curator of the Louisville Museum of Natural History and Science at the Louisville Free Public Library. He held that position for 26 years helping educate the Louisville area community about natural history. He is buried at Winchester Cemetery in Clark County, Kentucky, USA.

Nitella leptosoma Charophyte

 

This is a drawing of an oogonium of the algae Nitella leptosoma (Nordstedt, 1880). It was from plate 3 of the book Australasian characeae by Otto Nordstedt Part 1 1891. The habitat of this plant is in bogs at Omatangi, near Tampo, New Zealand (about 600-900 meters above sea level).

Otto Nordstedt (1838-1924) was a Swedish botanist who obtained a medical degree from Lund University and later became a botanist specializing in algology. He became a professor at Lund University and retired at the age of 84. The book I scanned the above images from belonged to Dr. James Conkin (1924-2017) who was professor at the University of Louisville and studied charophyte fossils. At a recent geology meeting after giving a presentation about the Louisville fossil collectors Henry Nettelroth and Dr. James Knapp, his daughter presented this book to me. Below is image of what appears to be a Harrisichara (Grambast, 1957) charophyte fossil found by Dr. Conkin at Isle of Wright off the coast of England. See full posting about at this link.