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

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus of fossil

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

pteriomorphian

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

s that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

genus '' Pteria''. They lived from the Early Jurassic to latest Cretaceous.''Inoceramus''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.orgWard ''et al.''
"Ammonite and inoceramid bivalve extinction patterns in Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary sections of the Biscay region (southwestern France, northern Spain)"
'' Geology'', 1991

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the inoceramids is disputed, with genera such as ''

Platyceramus ''Platyceramus'' was a genus of Cretaceous bivalve molluscs belonging to the extinct inoceramid lineage. It is sometimes classified as a subgenus of ''Inoceramus''. Size The largest and best known species is ''P. platinus''. Individuals of th ...

'' sometimes classified as

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

within ''Inoceramus''. Also the number of valid species in this genus is disputed.

Description

Inoceramus steenstrup, world's largest fossil mollusk

Ogallala opaline sandstone with Cremnoceramus deformis fragments 20201115 143032

''Inoceramids'' had thick shells composed of "prisms" of

calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

deposited perpendicular to the surface, and unweathered fossils commonly preserve the mother-of-pearl luster the shells had in life. Most species have prominent growth lines which appear as raised semicircles concentric to the growing edge of the shell. 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 The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. The ...

or Lower Campanian stage. 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.

Selected species

*†''I. aequicostatus'' *†''I. albertensis'' *†''I. altifluminis'' *†''I. americanus'' *†''I. andinus'' *†''I. anglicus'' *†''I. anilis'' *†''I. anomalus'' *†''I. anomiaeformis'' *†''I. apicalis'' *†''I. arvanus'' *†''I. bellvuensis'' *†''I. biformis'' *†''I. brownei'' *†''I. carsoni'' *†''I. comancheanus'' *†''I. constellatus'' *†''I. corpulentus'' *†''I. coulthardi'' *†'' I. cuvieri'' *†''I. dakotensis'' *†''I. dominguesi'' *†''I. dowlingi'' *†''I. dunveganensis'' *†''I. elburzensis'' *†''I. everesti'' *†''I. fibrosus'' *†''I. formosulus'' *†''I. fragilis'' *†''I. frechi'' *†''I. galoi'' *†''I. gibbosus'' *†''I. ginterensis'' *†''I. glacierensis'' *†''I. haast'' *†''I. howelli'' *†''I. incelebratus'' *†''I. inconditus'' *†''I. kystatymensis'' *†''I. lamarcki'' *†''I. lateris'' *†''I. mesabiensis'' *†''I. morii'' *†''I. multiformis'' *†''I. mytiliformis'' *†''I. nipponicus'' *†''I. perplexus'' *†''I. pictus'' *†''I. pontoni'' *†''I. porrectus'' *†''I. prefragilis'' *†''I. proximus' *†''I. pseudolucifer'' *†''I. quenstedti'' *†''I. robertsoni'' *†''I. saskatchewanensis'' *†''I. selwyni'' *†''I. sokolovi'' *†''I. steinmanni'' *†''I. subdepressus'' *†''I. tenuirostratus'' *†''I. triangularis' *†''I. undabundus'' *†''I. ussuriensis''

Distribution

Species of ''Inoceramus'' had a worldwide distribution during the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods (from 189.6 to 66.043 Ma). Many examples are found in the

Pierre Shale The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series in the Upper Cretaceous which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains, from Pembina Valley in Canada to New Mexico. The Pierre Shale was described by Meek and Hayden in 1862 in th ...

of the Western Interior Seaway in North America. ''Inoceramus'' can also be found abundantly in the Cretaceous

Gault Clay The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in ...

that underlies London. Other locations for this fossil include Vancouver Island,Ludvigsen & Beard, 1997, pp. 102–103 British Columbia, Colombia ( Hiló Formation, Tolima and

La Frontera Formation The La Frontera Formation ( es, Formación La Frontera, K2F, Ksf) is a geological formation, part of the Villeta Group, of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and neighbouring areas of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of limestones ...

, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Huila),Acosta & Ulloa, 2001, p. 41 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, Greenland, 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.

Gallery

File:InoceramusCretaceousSouthDakota.jpg, ''Inoceramus'' from the Cretaceous of South Dakota File:Inoceramidae - Inoceramus proximus.JPG, ''Inoceramus proximus'' File:Inoceramus cuvieri Palaeontological exhibition Prague.jpg, ''Inoceramus cuvieri'' File:Inoceramus vancouverensis 1.jpg, ''Inoceramus vancouverensis'' File:Inoceramus hobetsensis - National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo - DSC06954.JPG, ''Inoceramus hobetsensis''

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Upper Cretaceous Bivalvia of Alabama
{{Taxonbar, from=Q129300 Inoceramidae Prehistoric bivalve genera Jurassic bivalves Cretaceous bivalves Mesozoic Antarctica Mesozoic animals of Africa Mesozoic animals of Asia Cretaceous molluscs of Europe Prehistoric bivalves of North America Mesozoic animals of South America Mesozoic Chile Cretaceous Argentina Cretaceous Brazil Cretaceous Colombia Cretaceous Ecuador Cretaceous Peru Cretaceous Venezuela Early Jurassic genus first appearances Toarcian genera Aalenian genera Bajocian genera Bathonian genera Callovian genera Oxfordian genera Kimmeridgian genera Tithonian genera Berriasian genera Valanginian genera Hauterivian genera Barremian genera Aptian genera Albian genera Cenomanian genera Turonian genera Coniacian genera Santonian genera Campanian genera Maastrichtian genera Late Cretaceous genus extinctions Fossil taxa described in 1814 Fossils of Serbia