Chlidonophoridae is a family of

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan 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, wh ...

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 derived ...

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 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of ...

. 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 ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

, North coast of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, West of Australia, East of

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

and South of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

Charactersistics

All species of Chlidonophoridae are blind like all species of

Rhynchonellata The Rhynchonellata is a class of Lower Cambrian to Recent articulate brachiopods that combines orders from within the Rhynchonelliformea (Articulata revised) with well developed pedicle attachment. Shell forms vary from those with wide hinge li ...

. 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 , 'burial' and , 'law') was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov t ...

of low Mg calcite like all other

Subtaxa

Subfamily Chlidonophorinae

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

Subfamily Draciinae

* ''Dracius''

Subfamily Eucalathinae

* '' Eucalathus'' * '' Notozyga''

Subfamily Orthothyridinae

* '' Orthothyris''

Subfamily Agulhasiinae

* ''

Agulhasia ''Agulhasia'' is a genus of brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachi ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3542992 Terebratulida