• Source: Platyceramus

Platyceramus was a genus of Cretaceous bivalve molluscs belonging to the extinct inoceramid lineage. It is sometimes classified as a subgenus of Inoceramus.




Size


The largest and best known species is P. platinus. Individuals of this species typically reached 1 m (3 ft 3 in) or more in axial length, but some exceptional specimens 3 m (9 ft 10 in) long have been found, 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 for its own juveniles, also for oysters such as the epizoic 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
Natural History Museum: Savage Ancient Seas Archived 2008-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
Invertebrate fossils of Kansas article

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Platyceramus
• Bivalvia
• Western Interior Seaway
• Largest and heaviest animals
• Giant clam
• Inoceramus
• Inoceramidae
• Largest prehistoric animals
• Paleobiota of the Niobrara Formation
• List of the prehistoric life of New Mexico