''Gigantoproductus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of extinct brachiopods in the order Productida and 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 ...

Monticuliferidae. The species were the largest of the carboniferous

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, w ...

s, with the largest known species reaching in shell width. Such huge invertebrates appeared in the Mississippian as the proportion of oxygen in the atmosphere began to rise. The earliest members of the Productida date back to the Silurian period, and ''Gigantoproductus'' is known to have existed between 339.4 to 318.1 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. As fossils, their shells occur within a limestone matrix.

References

External links

Image of Gigantoproductus fossil
geology collection,

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

''Gigantoproductus crassus'' Sarytcheva
{{Taxonbar, from=Q426603 Prehistoric brachiopod genera Productida Paleozoic life of Alberta

See also

References

External links