Bivalvia

Bivalvia or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consisting of a hinged pair of half-shells known as valves. As a group, bivalves have no head and lack some typical molluscan organs such as the radula and the odontophore. Their gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing.

Bivalvia

Ernst Haeckel · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
clamPBDB
Sits inside
MolluscaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
infaunalPBDB
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB
Vision
blindPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 468 million years on record.

The record covers at least 509.7 Mya to 41.03 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 515.3 Mya to 33.9 Mya.

Cambrian — about 1 of 12000 occurrencesOrdovician — about 336 of 12000 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 228 of 12000 occurrencesDevonian — about 138 of 12000 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 456 of 12000 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 78 of 12000 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 219 of 12000 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 1432 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 2491 of 12000 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 5489 of 12000 occurrencesPaleocene — about 0 of 12000 occurrencesEocene — about 1132 of 12000 occurrencesOligocene — about 0 of 12000 occurrences525–508 Mya — about 1 occurrence492–475 Mya — about 3 occurrences475–458 Mya — about 20 occurrences458–441 Mya — about 326 occurrences441–425 Mya — about 160 occurrences425–408 Mya — about 83 occurrences408–391 Mya — about 22 occurrences391–375 Mya — about 64 occurrences375–358 Mya — about 26 occurrences358–341 Mya — about 72 occurrences341–325 Mya — about 69 occurrences325–308 Mya — about 82 occurrences308–291 Mya — about 302 occurrences291–275 Mya — about 7 occurrences275–258 Mya — about 1 occurrence258–241 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences174–158 Mya — about 353 occurrences158–141 Mya — about 1435 occurrences141–124 Mya — about 1125 occurrences124–108 Mya — about 928 occurrences108–91 Mya — about 447 occurrences91–74 Mya — about 324 occurrences74–58 Mya — about 5018 occurrences58–41 Mya — about 756 occurrences41–24 Mya — about 376 occurrences509.7 Mya41.03 Mya525 Mya24 Mya

12,000+ occurrences of Bivalvia on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

12,000 occurrences read

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. The read hit its cap, so every figure above is a floor and the shares are of the occurrences read. More on what this infers.

Found in

at least 197 formations

Kap Leslie — 70.48°N, 21.97°WMoodys Branch — 32.85°N, 90.41°WMoodys Branch — 32.95°N, 90.17°WMoodys Branch — 32.23°N, 92.15°WMoodys Branch — 32.01°N, 92.00°WMoodys Branch — 32.33°N, 90.15°WMoodys Branch — 31.88°N, 88.69°WKiowa — 37.32°N, 99.75°WKiowa — 37.28°N, 99.66°WKiowa — 37.22°N, 99.90°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.08°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.02°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.18°WKiowa — 38.41°N, 97.99°WKiowa — 38.28°N, 98.41°WKiowa — 38.60°N, 97.82°WKiowa — 38.53°N, 97.90°WKiowa — 38.43°N, 97.90°WKiowa — 38.65°N, 98.01°WKiowa — 38.63°N, 98.10°WKiowa — 38.60°N, 97.93°WKiowa — 38.54°N, 98.01°WKiowa — 38.89°N, 97.79°WKiowa — 38.73°N, 97.53°WKiowa — 38.76°N, 97.75°WKiowa — 38.75°N, 97.75°WKiowa — 38.76°N, 97.86°WJalama — 34.53°N, 120.41°WJalama — 34.51°N, 120.45°WJalama — 34.50°N, 120.34°WShuqra — 14.27°N, 48.57°EShuqra — 14.30°N, 48.47°EShuqra — 14.32°N, 48.45°EPierre Shale — 43.27°N, 104.27°WPierre Shale — 43.30°N, 104.14°WPierre Shale — 43.26°N, 104.22°WLisbon — 31.53°N, 87.60°WLisbon — 31.84°N, 88.25°WLisbon — 31.50°N, 87.80°WNanjemoy — 37.52°N, 76.79°WCook Mountain — 31.29°N, 86.56°WCook Mountain — 31.31°N, 86.48°WCook Mountain — 30.53°N, 96.69°WCook Mountain — 31.25°N, 95.73°WCook Mountain — 31.75°N, 92.97°WMaastricht — 51.00°N, 6.00°ESandgate — 51.08°N, 1.18°ESandgate — 51.12°N, 1.00°ESandgate — 51.23°N, 0.22°WSandgate — 51.23°N, 0.58°WSandgate — 50.98°N, 0.75°WSandgate — 51.67°N, 1.58°WSandgate — 51.35°N, 2.08°WFolkestone — 51.08°N, 1.18°EFolkestone — 51.08°N, 1.08°EFolkestone — 51.08°N, 1.08°WFolkestone — 51.28°N, 0.53°EFolkestone — 51.27°N, 0.20°EFolkestone — 51.27°N, 0.08°EFolkestone — 51.32°N, 0.32°EFolkestone — 51.22°N, 0.82°WGraham — 33.02°N, 98.64°WGraham — 33.00°N, 98.67°WGraham — 33.11°N, 98.59°WGraham — 32.96°N, 98.76°WGraham — 31.50°N, 99.37°WGraham — 31.44°N, 99.34°WAtherfield Clay — 50.60°N, 1.32°WAtherfield Clay — 50.62°N, 1.97°WAtherfield Clay — 51.13°N, 1.32°EAtherfield Clay — 51.28°N, 0.53°EAtherfield Clay — 51.23°N, 0.22°WAtherfield Clay — 51.23°N, 0.58°WMadbi — 14.27°N, 48.56°EMadbi — 14.32°N, 48.45°EPaksa — 73.00°N, 113.00°EColeraine — 47.32°N, 93.28°WColeraine — 47.00°N, 93.00°WColeraine — 47.29°N, 93.43°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.27°N, 104.72°WCherokee Shale — 37.35°N, 94.99°WCherokee Shale — 37.36°N, 94.82°WCherokee Shale — 37.23°N, 95.10°WCherokee Shale — 37.46°N, 94.80°WCherokee Shale — 37.14°N, 95.10°WCherokee Shale — 37.21°N, 94.99°WCherokee Shale — 37.55°N, 94.66°WCherokee Shale — 37.65°N, 94.71°WCherokee Shale — 37.61°N, 94.62°WCherokee Shale — 37.27°N, 94.82°WCherokee Shale — 37.01°N, 94.88°WCherokee Shale — 37.11°N, 94.82°WCherokee Shale — 37.24°N, 94.80°WCherokee Shale — 37.32°N, 94.93°WCherokee Shale — 37.04°N, 95.17°WCherokee Shale — 37.04°N, 95.15°WVuache — 46.83°N, 6.52°EWaynesville — 39.45°N, 83.83°WWaynesville — 39.44°N, 84.20°WWaynesville — 39.42°N, 85.01°WWaynesville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WCockfield — 32.23°N, 92.15°WCockfield — 31.88°N, 88.69°WNaifa — 14.28°N, 48.55°ENaifa — 14.27°N, 48.56°ENaifa — 14.31°N, 48.43°EForaker Limestome — 39.49°N, 96.27°WForaker Limestome — 39.07°N, 96.07°WForaker Limestome — 39.27°N, 96.57°WForaker Limestome — 39.39°N, 96.41°WForaker Limestome — 39.07°N, 96.18°WForaker Limestome — 37.64°N, 96.43°WForaker Limestome — 37.65°N, 96.46°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Bivalvia has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. The read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 173 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 6,366 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,775 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 423 sites for Bivalvia, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

at least 137 references

Each of the 12,000 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. That read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 125 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Bivalvia

Credit
Ernst Haeckel
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMollusca through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758