''Gryphea dilatata'',
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...
"devil's toenail"
is a
species of
Jurassic oyster, an extinct
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
bivalve
Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...
mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
in the family
Gryphaeidae.
This fossil oyster is frequently found in abundance in the localities where it occurs. It belongs to the
Oxfordian and
Kimmeridgian clays of the
Jurassic and can grow to a diameter in excess of .
It lived a sedentary life-style, settled on the sea bed and was a filter feeder. Its abundance at certain localities — such as
Furzy Cliff
Furzy Cliff, also known as Jordan's Cliff, is located on the coast near the village of Preston, just to the east of Weymouth, Dorset, England. It is at the northeastern end of Weymouth Beach, looking out over Weymouth Bay to Portland Harbour ...
,
Weymouth,
Dorset, (
England) — suggests it often formed large beds of hundreds of individuals.
It is closely related to the similar species ''
Gryphaea dilobotes
''Gryphaea'', one of the genera known as devil's toenails, is a genus of extinct oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Gryphaeidae.
These fossils range from the Triassic period to the middle Paleogene period, but are mostly restricted ...
''.
See also
* ''
Gryphaea arcuata''
*
Jurassic Coast
References
Prehistoric bivalves
Gryphaeidae
Jurassic bivalves
Bivalves described in 1818
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