''Platyceramus'' was a genus of
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 ...
bivalve molluscs belonging to the extinct
inoceramid
The Inoceramidae are an extinct family of bivalves ("clams") in the Class Mollusca. Fossils of inoceramids are found in marine sediments of Permian to latest Cretaceous in age. Inoceramids tended to live in upper bathyal and neritic environment ...
lineage. It is sometimes classified as a
subgenus of ''
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 ...
''.
Size
The largest and best known species is ''P. platinus''. Individuals of this species typically reached or more in axial length, but some exceptional specimens long have been found,
[Journal of Paleontology , Jan., 2007, Vol. 81, No. 1 (Jan., 2007), pp. 64-81] making it the
largest known bivalve. Its huge but very thin shell often provided shelter for schools of small fish, some of which became trapped and fossilised themselves. The outer shell often provided
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
for its own juveniles,
also for
oysters such as the
epizoic
An epibiont (from the Ancient Greek meaning "living on top of") is an organism that lives on the surface of another living organism, called the basibiont ("living underneath"). The interaction between the two organisms is called epibiosis. An ep ...
oyster ''
Pseudoperna congesta'',
and
barnacles.
Shells containing pearls have also been discovered.
References
External links
Paleoecology of giant Inoceramidae (Platyceramus) on a Santonian (Cretaceous) seafloor in Colorado
Inoceramidae
Prehistoric bivalve genera
Cretaceous bivalves
Prehistoric molluscs of Europe
Prehistoric bivalves of North America
Fossil taxa described in 1932
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