Ecphora

Ecphora Temporal range: Eocene–Piacenzian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
An apertural view of a shell of the ecphora known as Ecphora gardnerae gardnerae, drawn by J. C. McConnell[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Caenogastropoda cladeHypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Muricoidea
Family:	Muricidae
Subfamily:	Ocenebrinae
Genera
See text

Ecphora is the common name for a group of extinct predatory marine gastropod mollusks within the family Muricidae, the rocks snails or murexes. The common name is based on the first officially described genus, Ecphora. The entire lineage of these ocenebrinid murexes are descended from the Eocene murex, Tritonopsis. Ecphoras were indigenous to the North American Eastern Seaboard, being found in marine strata from the Late Eocene until their extinction during the Pliocene. Many ecphora species are important index fossils.