''Bentharca'' is a genus of
ark clam
Ark clam is the common name for a family of small to large-sized saltwater clams or marine bivalve molluscs in the family Arcidae. Generally less than 80 mm long, ark clams vary both in shape and size. They number about 200 species worldwide.
T ...
s.
Fossil species placed in the genus have been identified from the lower
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
(23.03 mya).
Species
It contains 2
extant species
Neontology is a part of biology that, in contrast to paleontology, studies and deals with living (or, more generally, '' recent'') organisms. It is the study of extant taxa (singular: extant taxon): taxa (such as species, genera and families) wi ...
, and 2
extinct species
This page features lists of species and organisms that have become extinct. The reasons for extinction range from natural occurrences, such as shifts in the Earth's ecosystem or natural disasters, to human influences on nature by the overuse of n ...
.
* ''
Bentharca asperula''
(Dall, 1881)
* ''
Bentharca avellanaria''
(Melvill & Standen, 1907)
* †''Bentharca inexpectata''
(P. A. Maxwell, 1966)
* †''Bentharca waitakarensis''
Eagle, 2000
References
Arcidae
Bivalve genera
{{Arcidae-stub