Chlidonophoridae is a family of

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of 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, while the fron ...

belonging to the order

Terebratulida Terebratulids are one of only three living orders of articulate brachiopods, the others being the Rhynchonellida and the Thecideida. Craniida and Lingulida include living brachiopods, but are inarticulates. The name, Terebratula, may be der ...

Existence

Fossils of Chlidonophoridae have been discovered as early as 191-183 MYA in the

Jurassic period The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the second and m ...

. her has a total of 52 species out of which 25 are extant to the present day (48%). There have been a total of 697 occurrences of the genus, most located in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

, North coast of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, West of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, East of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and South of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

Charactersistics

All species of Chlidonophoridae are blind like all species of

Rhynchonellata The Rhynchonellata is a class of Lower Cambrian to Holocene, Recent Articulata (Brachiopoda), articulate brachiopods that combines orders from within the Rhynchonelliformea (Articulata revised) with well developed pedicle attachment. Shell forms ...

. They are stationary and are attached to a surface. They are suspension feeders also called filter feeders and their diet consists of suspended food particles like phytoplankton. They also have a

taphonomy Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term ''taphonomy'' (from Greek language, Greek , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientis ...

of low Mg

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 ...

like all other

Subtaxa

Subfamily Chlidonophorinae

* '' Chlidonophora'' * '' Deslongchampsithyris'' * '' Disculina'' * '' Gisilina'' * '' Meonia'' * '' Prochlidonophora'' * '' ''Rugia''''

Subfamily Draciinae

* ''Dracius''

Subfamily Eucalathinae

* '' Eucalathis'' * '' Notozyga''

Subfamily Orthothyridinae

* '' Orthothyris''

Subfamily Agulhasiinae

* '' Agulhasia''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3542992 Terebratulida