Gigantostrea

Gigantostrea
Temporal range: Eocene - Miocene
Fossil shell of Gigantostrea gigantica from Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreoida
Superfamily: Ostreoidea
Family: Gryphaeidae
Genus: Gigantostrea
(Sacco, 1897)

Gigantostrea is an extinct genus of marine bivalve mollusks belonging to the family Gryphaeidae. [1]

This genus is known in the fossil record from the Eocene to the Miocene (age range: from 48.6 to 15.97 million years ago). [2] These fossils have been found in Europe and United States.[2][3]

Description

Shells of Gigantostrea can reach a size of about 100 millimetres (3.9 in).[4] These fossil shells are brittle, inequivalve, with the lower valve convex and the upper valve flat or slightly concave. The lower valve was cemented to the substrate.

Species

Species within this genus include: [2]

References

External links

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