''Paraspirifer'' is a

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 large

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

s (up to about ) that lived during the late Lower and Middle

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

in what now are Germany, Spain, Morocco and the United States (New York State and Ohio).

Taxonomy

''Paraspirifer'' developed from ''Brachyspirifer'' during the early upper

Emsian The Emsian is one of three faunal stages in the Early Devonian Epoch. It lasted from 407.6 ± 2.6 million years ago to 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago. It was preceded by the Pragian Stage and followed by the Eifelian Stage. It is named after the ...

(cancellata-elegans/Dalehe Event).

Distribution

''Paraspirifer'' originated in the lower upper Emsian and became extinct in Europe and Northern Africa at the end of the lower

Eifelian The Eifelian is the first of two faunal stages in the Middle Devonian Epoch. It lasted from 393.3 ± 1.2 million years ago to 387.7 ± 0.8 million years ago. It was preceded by the Emsian Stage and followed by the Givetian Stage. North American ...

. It survived into the Givetian in North America though. * ''P. cultrijugatus'' is known from the Middle Devonian (Eifelian, Leudersdorf, near Üxheim, Eifel Hills, Germany). * ''P. acuminatus'' occurs in the Middle Devonian of the United States (middle part of the Muscatatuck Group, Indiana) * ''P. bownockeri'' is known from the Middle Devonian of the United States (Givetian of the Appalachian Basin: Lower Silica Formation, Western Ohio; Mount Marion Member of the Oatka Creek Formation and Mottville Member of the Skaneateles Formation, both Eastern and Central New York State).

Ecology

From the type of deposits that contain ''Paraspirifer bownockeri'' it can be deduced that this species inhabited soft clay mudflats. Shells of this species hosted a wide range of

epibiont An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An ep ...

s, such as

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a ...

ns,

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

s, echinoderms, annelid worms and other brachiopods. These epibionts are more numerous on the brachial valve than on the pedunculate valve, because this big brachiopod lay on its pedunculate valve after the degeneration of the stalk.

References

Prehistoric brachiopod genera Devonian brachiopods Paleozoic brachiopods of Europe Early Devonian first appearances Givetian extinctions Spiriferida Floresta Formation {{brachiopod-stub