''Platyceramus'' was a genus of

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 ...

bivalve molluscs belonging to the extinct

inoceramid The Inoceramidae are an extinct family of bivalves ("clams") in the Class Mollusca. Fossils of inoceramids are found in marine sediments of Permian to latest Cretaceous in age. Inoceramids tended to live in upper bathyal and neritic environment ...

lineage. It is sometimes classified as a subgenus of ''

Inoceramus ''Inoceramus'' (Greek: translation "strong pot") is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus '' Pteria''. They lived from the Early Jurassic to l ...

''.

Size

The largest and best known species is ''P. platinus''. Individuals of this species typically reached or more in axial length, but some exceptional specimens long have been found,Journal of Paleontology , Jan., 2007, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Jan., 2007), pp. 64-81 making it the largest known bivalve. Its huge but very thin shell often provided shelter for schools of small fish, some of which became trapped and fossilised themselves. The outer shell often provided

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

for its own juveniles, also for oysters such as the

epizoic 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 ...

oyster '' Pseudoperna congesta'', and barnacles. Shells containing pearls have also been discovered.

References

External links

Paleoecology of giant Inoceramidae (Platyceramus) on a Santonian (Cretaceous) seafloor in Colorado
Inoceramidae Prehistoric bivalve genera Cretaceous bivalves Prehistoric molluscs of Europe Prehistoric bivalves of North America Fossil taxa described in 1932 {{paleo-bivalve-stub