''Gigantoproductus'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of extinct

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), 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 e ...

s in the order Productida and the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Monticuliferidae. The species were the largest of the

carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

brachiopods, with the largest known species ('' Gigantoproductus giganteus'') reaching in shell width. Such huge invertebrates appeared in the Mississippian as the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere began to rise. The earliest members of the Productida date back to the

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

period, and ''Gigantoproductus'' is known to have existed between 339.4 and 318.1 million years ago, during the

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a Geologic time scale, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era that spans 60 million years, from the end of the Devonian Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the ...

period. As fossils, their shells occur within a limestone matrix.

References

External links

Image of Gigantoproductus fossil
geology collection, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
''Gigantoproductus crassus'' Sarytcheva
{{Taxonbar, from=Q426603 Prehistoric brachiopod genera Productida Paleozoic life of Alberta

See also

References

External links