''Gigantopecten'' is a genus of fossil
scallops,
marine bivalve molluscs in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Pectinidae
Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related families ...
, the scallops.
These facultatively mobile low-level epifaunal suspension feeders lived from the
Oligocene to the
Quaternary period (from 33.9 to 0.781 Ma).
[Paleobiology Database]
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Species
Species within the genus Gigantopecten include:[
* '' Gigantopecten latissimus'' (Brocchi, 1814)
* '' Gigantopecten nodosiformis'' (Pusch, 1837)
* '' Gigantopecten pittieri'' Dall 1912
* '' Gigantopecten gigas'' (Schlotheim, 1813)
]
Description
Species within this genus have a very large shells, reaching a height of about and a length of about . The shell is thick and biconvex. The left valve is slightly more convex than the right one. The radial ribs are wide, but very shallow. Both auricles are the same size and shape.[Antonio P. JIMÉNEZ, Julio AGUIRRE, and Pascual RIVA]
TAXONOMIC STUDY OF SCALLOPS (PECTINIDAE: MOLLUSCA, BIVALVIA) FROM PLIOCENE DEPOSITS (ALMERÍA, SE SPAIN)
/ref>
Distribution
Fossils of species within this genus have been found in the sediments of the United States
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, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Algeria
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, Austria
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, Cuba
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, France
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, Haiti, Hungary
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, Poland
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, Slovakia
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and Iran
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.[
]
References
* Bongrain M., 1988
''Gigantopecten'' du Miocène français (Pectinidae, Bivalvia)
External links
Natural History Museum of Crete
Pectinidae
Prehistoric bivalve genera
{{bivalve-stub