''Aemula'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of brachiopods that lived during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

period. The pedunculate brachiopod species '' Aemula inusitata'' had lived on the bodies of larger animals which served for enough feeding surface, since no large attachment sites were available on the

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

chalk of the sea floor (Gould, 1977, p. 333). It was a very small animal, having a maximum length of 7 mm, and is believed to have been short lived as interpreted from its growth lines (Surlyk, 1974; Gould, 1977, p. 332).

References

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External links

''Aemula''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

Prehistoric brachiopod genera Cretaceous animals of Europe Terebratulida {{Brachiopod-stub