Peonza : new gastropod genus from the middle Tertiary of Patagonia and Chile

A new Tertiary gastropod genus, Peonza n. gen., is described, along with two new species, P. torquata from southern Argentina and P. benjamina from southern Chile. These muricacean gastropods, of uncertain familial status, occur in the late Eocene San Julian Formation and in the late Oligocene to early Miocene? Monte Leon Formation, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. They also were recorded in the (probably) Oligocene Magellanian beds in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and in early Miocene deposits of the Tres Montes region in the Chilean Canals. In spite of the small number of specimens, Peonza n. gen. seems to have had a wide geographic and temporal distribution.