Inoceramus

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The genus Inoceramus (James Sowerby, 1814) were bivalves in the Pteriacea superfamily. Inoceramus species lived worldwide. Many examples are found in the Pierre shale in the Western Interior Seaway in North America during the Cretaceous period. Inoceramus can also be found abundantly in the Cretaceous Gault Clay that underlies London. The clam had a thick shell paved with "prisms" of calcite deposited perpendicular to the surface, which gave it a pearly luster in life. Most species have prominent growth lines appearing as raised semicircles concentric to the growning edge of the shell. Paleontologists suggest that the giant size of some species was an adaptation for life in the murky bottom waters, with a correspondingly large gill area that would have allowed the animal to cope with oxygen-deficient waters. Other locations include Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada; Texas, Tennessee, California and Alaska, USA; Spain, France, and Germany.