''Megalodon'' is an extinct genus of
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 ...
molluscs
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 taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil sp ...
that reportedly lived from the
Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
to the
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), 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 J ...
period.
[
] It is not clear, however, that all the fossils assigned to ''Megalodon'' from that span of time really belong in the same genus. Jurassic relatives of ''Megalodon'' such as ''
Pachyrisma grande'' were closely related to the
rudists
Rudists are a group of extinct box-, tube- or ring-shaped marine heterodont bivalves belonging to the order Hippuritida that arose during the Late Jurassic and became so diverse during the Cretaceous that they were major reef-building organis ...
.
[
]
Species
*†''
Megalodon hungaricum''
*†''
Megalodon longjiangensis''
*†''
Megalodon rostratiforme''
*†''
Megalodon yanceyi''
*†''
Megalodon abbreviatus''
Distribution
Fossils of the bivalve ''Megalodon'' have been found in:
;Devonian
* Austria, Canada (Alberta), Germany, and Italy
;Permian
* China and Malaysia
;Triassic
* Bulgaria, Colombia, Hungary, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates
;Jurassic
* Italy and Morocco
References
Prehistoric bivalve genera
Molluscs of Africa
Mesozoic Africa
Bivalves of Asia
Paleozoic Asia
Bivalves of Europe
Paleozoic Europe
Mesozoic Europe
Prehistoric bivalves of North America
Devonian Canada
Molluscs of South America
Triassic Colombia
Fossil taxa described in 1827
Bivalve taxonomy
Fossils of Serbia
{{paleo-bivalve-stub