Brachiopoda

Brachiopods, phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of 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, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection.

Brachiopoda

Marilynne Box · CC BY 4.0 · 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
lamp shellPBDB
Sits inside
PanbrachiopodaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 471 million years on record.

The record covers at least 509.7 Mya to 37.71 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 538.8 Mya to 33.9 Mya.

Cambrian — about 200 of 12000 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 2604 of 12000 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 2727 of 12000 occurrencesDevonian — about 2213 of 12000 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 2799 of 12000 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 251 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 78 of 12000 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 168 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 376 of 12000 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 329 of 12000 occurrencesPaleocene — about 247 of 12000 occurrencesEocene — about 8 of 12000 occurrencesOligocene — about 0 of 12000 occurrences549–531 Mya — about 2 occurrences531–514 Mya — about 13 occurrences514–496 Mya — about 83 occurrences496–479 Mya — about 193 occurrences479–461 Mya — about 279 occurrences461–444 Mya — about 2142 occurrences444–426 Mya — about 2573 occurrences426–409 Mya — about 728 occurrences409–391 Mya — about 463 occurrences391–374 Mya — about 844 occurrences374–356 Mya — about 485 occurrences356–339 Mya — about 741 occurrences339–321 Mya — about 233 occurrences321–304 Mya — about 900 occurrences304–286 Mya — about 1108 occurrences286–269 Mya — about 6 occurrences269–251 Mya — about 4 occurrences181–164 Mya — about 32 occurrences164–146 Mya — about 150 occurrences146–129 Mya — about 200 occurrences129–111 Mya — about 211 occurrences111–94 Mya — about 50 occurrences94–76 Mya — about 112 occurrences76–59 Mya — about 439 occurrences59–41 Mya — about 6 occurrences41–24 Mya — about 6 occurrences509.7 Mya37.71 Mya549 Mya24 Mya

12,000+ occurrences of Brachiopoda 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 450 formations

Cherokee Shale — 37.60°N, 94.68°WCherokee Shale — 37.42°N, 94.79°WCherokee Shale — 37.35°N, 94.99°WCherokee Shale — 37.30°N, 94.95°WCherokee Shale — 37.24°N, 94.99°WCherokee Shale — 37.23°N, 95.10°WCherokee Shale — 37.04°N, 95.17°WCherokee Shale — 37.14°N, 95.10°WCherokee Shale — 37.54°N, 94.64°WCherokee Shale — 37.37°N, 94.86°WCherokee Shale — 37.58°N, 94.64°WCherokee Shale — 37.84°N, 94.35°WCherokee Shale — 37.65°N, 94.71°WCherokee Shale — 37.33°N, 94.80°WCherokee Shale — 37.24°N, 94.95°WCherokee Shale — 37.32°N, 94.68°WCherokee Shale — 39.49°N, 94.28°WCherokee Shale — 37.10°N, 94.89°WCherokee Shale — 37.11°N, 94.82°WCherokee Shale — 37.24°N, 94.80°WCherokee Shale — 37.04°N, 95.13°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 — 33.09°N, 98.46°WGraham — 31.50°N, 99.37°WGraham — 31.44°N, 99.34°WGraham — 33.01°N, 98.52°WGraham — 31.49°N, 99.31°WGraham — 32.54°N, 98.87°WForaker Limestome — 39.49°N, 96.27°WForaker Limestome — 39.07°N, 96.07°WForaker Limestome — 39.25°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°WForaker Limestome — 38.15°N, 96.32°WWaterways — 58.00°N, 112.72°WEdwardsville — 39.50°N, 86.50°WEdwardsville — 39.75°N, 86.67°WEdwardsville — 39.25°N, 86.33°WEdwardsville — 39.00°N, 86.25°WEdwardsville — 39.04°N, 86.50°WFort Payne Chert — 36.92°N, 84.96°WFort Payne Chert — 36.54°N, 85.16°WFort Payne Chert — 36.72°N, 85.45°WSalem Limestone — 37.49°N, 85.34°WSalem Limestone — 37.31°N, 85.44°WSalem Limestone — 37.79°N, 85.82°WSalem Limestone — 37.26°N, 85.34°WSalem Limestone — 37.43°N, 85.40°WSalem Limestone — 37.33°N, 85.50°WSalem Limestone — 37.18°N, 85.32°WSalem Limestone — 37.19°N, 85.37°WSalem Limestone — 37.55°N, 85.70°WSalem Limestone — 37.05°N, 85.05°WSalem Limestone — 38.06°N, 85.98°WSalem Limestone — 38.03°N, 86.03°WRoss Brook — 45.62°N, 61.97°WKap Leslie — 70.48°N, 21.97°WRoss Point — 45.62°N, 61.97°WTrefawr — 52.12°N, 3.55°WBedford Shale — 41.59°N, 81.57°WBedford Shale — 41.38°N, 81.56°WBedford Shale — 41.50°N, 81.70°WFort Scott Limestone — 40.82°N, 89.78°WFort Scott Limestone — 38.37°N, 93.78°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.22°N, 95.35°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.84°N, 94.71°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.86°N, 94.70°WFort Scott Limestone — 35.79°N, 95.86°WFort Scott Limestone — 36.42°N, 95.64°WFort Scott Limestone — 38.98°N, 93.57°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.63°N, 94.70°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.46°N, 94.80°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.29°N, 95.11°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.65°N, 94.70°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.04°N, 95.24°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.61°N, 94.75°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.08°N, 95.20°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.05°N, 95.15°WFort Scott Limestone — 37.48°N, 94.93°WAmherstburg — 43.98°N, 81.28°WAmherstburg — 43.88°N, 81.30°WLime Creek — 43.05°N, 92.96°WLime Creek — 42.02°N, 93.45°WDyer — 39.55°N, 107.25°WDyer — 39.72°N, 107.50°WDyer — 39.75°N, 107.32°WDyer — 39.80°N, 107.17°WDyer — 39.62°N, 107.10°WYujiang — 22.39°N, 107.55°EYujiang — 24.10°N, 109.98°EJoslin Hill — 43.21°N, 75.46°WLangara — 60.00°N, 11.00°ELangara — 59.88°N, 10.59°EHarpersville — 32.90°N, 98.90°WHarpersville — 32.96°N, 98.76°WHarpersville — 31.50°N, 99.37°WHarpersville — 33.11°N, 98.59°WShuqra — 14.27°N, 48.57°EShuqra — 14.30°N, 48.47°EShuqra — 14.32°N, 48.45°ELebanon Limestone — 35.80°N, 86.13°WLebanon Limestone — 35.47°N, 86.80°WLebanon Limestone — 35.97°N, 86.45°WLebanon Limestone — 35.45°N, 86.88°WLebanon Limestone — 36.00°N, 86.45°WMahantango — 40.50°N, 77.25°WMahantango — 40.05°N, 77.52°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.25°N, 96.57°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.38°N, 96.44°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.91°N, 95.91°WRed Eagle Limestone — 37.23°N, 96.54°WRed Eagle Limestone — 38.37°N, 96.63°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.18°N, 96.60°WRed Eagle Limestone — 38.13°N, 96.33°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Brachiopoda 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. 426 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 3,127 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

1,193 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 343 sites for Brachiopoda, 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 346 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. 334 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 Brachiopoda

Credit
Marilynne Box
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itPanbrachiopoda through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Cuvier 1805)