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

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of fossil marine

pteriomorphia The Pteriomorphia comprise a subclass of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs. It contains several major orders, including the Arcida, Ostreida, Pectinida, Limida, Mytilida, and Pteriida. It also contains some extinct and probably basa ...

n bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus '' Pteria''. They lived from the

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

to latest

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

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

Geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

'', 1991

Taxonomy

The

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

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

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 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 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'' *†''Inoceramus cuvieri, 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

and Jurassic periods (from 189.6 to 66.043 Ma). Many examples are found in the Pierre Shale of the Western Interior Seaway in North America. ''Inoceramus'' can also be found abundantly in the Cretaceous Gault Clay that underlies Geology of London, London. Other locations for this fossil include Vancouver Island,Ludvigsen & Beard, 1997, pp. 102–103 British Columbia, Colombia (Hiló Formation, Tolima Department, Tolima and La Frontera Formation, Boyacá Department, Boyacá, Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca and Huila Department, 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

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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