Inoceramus

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Inoceramus
Temporal range:
Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Pteriida
Family: †Inoceramidae
Genus: †Inoceramus
Sowerby, 1814
Species

See text

Inoceramus (Greek: translation "strong pot") is an

extant genus Pteria. They lived from the Early Jurassic to latest Cretaceous.[1][2]

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the inoceramids is disputed, with genera such as Platyceramus sometimes classified as subgenus within Inoceramus. Also the number of valid species in this genus is disputed.

Description

Halves of a gigantic specimen of I. steenstrupi 187 cm (74 in) across, found on the Nuussuaq Peninsula, Greenland
Weathered shell fragment of the closely related Cremnoceramus difformis, highlighting the orientation and texture of the calcite prisms of the Inoceramids.

Inoceramids had thick shells composed of "prisms" of calcite deposited perpendicular to the surface, and unweathered fossils commonly preserve the mother-of-pearl luster the shells had in life.[3] Most species have prominent growth lines which appear as raised semicircles concentric to the growing edge of the shell.[3]

In 1952, the huge specimen of Inoceramus steenstrupi 187 cm long, was found in Qilakitsoq, the Nuussuaq Peninsula, Greenland. This fossil is 83 Ma old, the Upper Santonian or Lower Campanian stage.[4] Paleontologists suggest that the giant size of some species was an adaptation for life in the murky bottom waters, with a correspondingly large gill area that would have allowed the animal to survive in oxygen-deficient waters.[3]

Selected species

  • †I. aequicostatus Voronetz, 1937
  • †I. albertensis McLearn, 1926
  • †I. altifluminis McLearn, 1943
  • †I. americanus Walaszczyk & Cobban, 2006
  • †I. andinus Wilckens, 1907
  • †I. anglicus Woods, 1911
  • †I. anilis Pcelinceva, 1962
  • †I. anomalus Heine, 1929
  • †I. anomiaeformis Feruglio, 1936
  • †I. apicalis Woods, 1912
  • †I. arvanus Stephenson, 1953
  • †I. bellvuensis
  • †I. biformis Tuomey, 1854
  • †I. brownei Marwick, 1953
  • †I. carsoni McCoy, 1865
  • †I. comancheanus
  • †I. constellatus Woods, 1904
  • †I. corpulentus McLearn, 1926
  • †I. coulthardi McLearn, 1926
  • †I. cuvieri Sowerby, 1814
  • †I. dakotensis
  • †I. dominguesi Maury, 1930
  • †I. dowlingi McLearn, 1931
  • †I. dunveganensis McLearn, 1926
  • †I. elburzensis Fantini, 1966
  • †I. everesti Oppel, 1862
  • †I. fibrosus Meek & Hayden, 1857
  • †I. formosulus Voronetz, 1937
  • †I. fragilis Haal & Meek, 1856
  • †I. frechi Flegel, 1905
  • †I. galoi Boehm, 1907
  • †I. gibbosus
  • †I. ginterensis Pergament, 1966
  • †I. glacierensis Walaszczyk & Cobban, 2006
  • †I. haast Hochstetter, 1863
  • †I. howelli White, 1876
  • †I. incelebratus Pergament, 1966
  • †I. inconditus Marwick, 1953
  • †I. kystatymensis Koschelkina, 1960
  • †I. lamarcki Parkinson, 1819
  • †I. lateris Rossi de Gargia & Camacho, 1965
  • †I. mesabiensis Bergquist, 1944
  • †I. morii Hayami, 1959
  • †I. multiformis Pergament, 1971
  • †I. mytiliformis Fantini, 1966
  • †I. nipponicus Nagao & Matsumoto, 1939
  • †I. perplexus
  • †I. pictus
  • †I. pontoni McLearn, 1926
  • †I. porrectus Voronetz, 1937
  • †I. prefragilis Stephenson, 1952
  • †I. proximus'' Tuomey, 1854
  • †I. pseudolucifer Afitsky, 1967
  • †I. quenstedti Pcelinceva, 1933
  • †I. robertsoni Walaszczyk & Cobban, 2006
  • †I. saskatchewanensis Warren, 1934
  • †I. selwyni McLearn, 1926
  • †I. sokolovi Walaszczyk & Cobban, 2006
  • †I. steenstrupi de Loriol, 1883
  • †I. steinmanni Wilckens, 1907
  • †I. subdepressus Meek & Hayden, 1861
  • †I. tenuirostratus Meek & Hayden, 1862
  • †I. triangularis'' Tuomey, 1854
  • †I. undabundus Meek & Hayden, 1862
  • †I. ussuriensis Voronetz, 1937

Distribution

The Western Interior Seaway that covered North America during the Cretaceous

Species of Inoceramus had a worldwide distribution during the

Gault Clay that underlies London. Other locations for this fossil include Vancouver Island,[3] British Columbia, Colombia (Hiló Formation, Tolima and La Frontera Formation, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Huila),[5] Spain, France, Germany, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Yukon), Chile, China, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indian Ocean, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United Kingdom, United States (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming), and Venezuela.[1]

Gallery

  • Inoceramus from the Cretaceous of South Dakota
    Inoceramus from the Cretaceous of South Dakota
  • Inoceramus proximus
    Inoceramus proximus
  • Inoceramus cuvieri
    Inoceramus cuvieri
  • Inoceramus vancouverensis
    Inoceramus vancouverensis
  • Inoceramus hobetsensis
    Inoceramus hobetsensis

References

  1. ^ a b c Inoceramus at Fossilworks.org
  2. ^ Ward et al., "Ammonite and inoceramid bivalve extinction patterns in Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sections of the Biscay region (southwestern France, northern Spain)", Geology, 1991
  3. ^ a b c d Ludvigsen & Beard, 1997, pp. 102–103
  4. ^ "Verdens største musling". Archived from the original on 18 August 2022.
  5. ^ Acosta & Ulloa, 2001, p. 41

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inoceramus.
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