The Inoceramidae are an extinct

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 ...

of bivalves ("clams") in the Class Mollusca. Fossils of inoceramids are found in marine sediments of

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last ...

to latest

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 ...

in age. Inoceramids tended to live in upper

bathyal The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above, and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypelagi ...

and

neritic The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminate ...

environments. Many species of inoceramid are found all over the world, demonstrating the wide distribution of their preferred ecosystems, and possibly long-lived planktotrophic larvae.Lower Turonian Euramerican Inoceramidae: A morphologic, taxonomic, and biostratigraphic overview
A report from the first Workshop on Early Turonian Inoceramids (Oct. 5-8, 1992) in Hamburg, Germany; organized by Heinz Hilbrecht and Peter J. Harries Despite their wide distribution, the pace of evolution of inoceramids was great, with species ranges commonly averaging 0.2-0.5 Ma.

Size

Inoceramus steenstrup, world's largest fossil mollusk

Various species of inoceramids have achieved shell sizes ranging from small to large. Members of the ''

Inoceramus ''Inoceramus'' (Greek: translation "strong pot") is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus '' Pteria''. They lived from the Early Jurassic to l ...

'' and '' Cladoceramus'' genera have shells of more than 1 m in length. In 1952, the huge specimen of ''Inoceramus steenstrupi'' 187 cm long, was found in

Qilakitsoq Qilakitsoq is an abandoned settlement and an important archaeological site in Greenland. It became known as the discovery location of eight mummified corpses from the Thule period. The Inuit mummies of Qilakitsoq offer important insights in ...

, the

Nuussuaq Peninsula Nuussuaq Peninsula (, old spelling: ''Nûgssuaq'') is a large (180x48 km) peninsula in western Greenland. Geography The waters around the peninsula are that of Baffin Bay. To the south and southwest the peninsula is bounded by Disko Bay, ...

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

. This fossil is 83 Ma old, the Upper

Santonian The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 86.3 ± 0.7 mya (million years ago) and 83.6 ± 0.7 mya. ...

or Lower

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campani ...

stage.Verdens største musling
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Taxonomy

Inoceramidae Giebel 1852 *Genus '' Actinoceramus'' Meek, 1864 (Synonym = ''Birostrina'' De Luc & Sowerby, 1821) *Genus '' Anopaea'' Eichwald, 1861 *Genus '' Arctomytiloides'' Polubotko, 1992 *Genus '' Cataceramus'' Cox, 1969 *Genus '' Cladoceramus'' Seitz, 1961 *Genus ''

Cremnoceramus ''Cremnoceramus'' ("cremno-" = ''kremnos'' reek precipice or over hanging wall or bank; "ceramus" = ''keramos'' reek clay pot) is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly ...

'' Heinz, 1932 *Genus '' Endocostea'' Whitfield, 1877 *Genus ''

'' Sowerby, 1814 **Subgenus ''Inoceramus (Cordiceramus)'' (Heinz, 1932) **Subgenus ''Inoceramus (Inoceramus)'' Sowerby, 1814 **Subgenus ''Inoceramus (Sphenoceramus)'' (Böhm, 1915) *Genus '' Magadiceramus'' Heinz, 1932 *Genus '' Mytiloides'' Brongniart, 1822 *Genus '' Neocomiceramus'' Pokhialainen, 1972 *Genus '' Neoinoceramus'' Ihering, 1902 *Genus '' Parainoceramus'' Voronetz, 1936 *Genus '' Platyceramus'' Heinz, 1932 *Genus '' Pseudomytiloides'' Koschelkina, 1963 *Genus '' Retroceramus'' Koschelkina, 1958 *Genus '' Spyridoceramus'' Cox, 1969 *Genus '' Tethyoceramus'' Sornay, 1980 *Genus '' Trochoceramus'' Heinz, 1932 *Genus '' Volviceramus'' Stoliczka, 1871

Size

Taxonomy

Footnotes

Further reading