Limatula

Limatula, the file shells or file clams, is a genus of marine bivalve molluscs in the family Limidae.

Limatula

George Brettingham Sowerby II · 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
Sits inside
LimidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB
Motility
facultatively mobile, attachedPBDB
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 298 million years on record.

The record covers at least 298.9 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 307 Mya to 0 Mya.

Carboniferous — about 4 of 332 occurrencesPermian — about 1 of 332 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 332 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 1 of 332 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 8 of 332 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 5 of 332 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 56 of 332 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 64 of 332 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 43 of 332 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 82 of 332 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 3 of 332 occurrencesEocene — about 9 of 332 occurrencesOligocene — about 4 of 332 occurrencesMiocene — about 22 of 332 occurrencesPliocene — about 15 of 332 occurrencesPleistocene — about 14 of 332 occurrences313–303 Mya — about 1 occurrence303–292 Mya — about 3 occurrences261–251 Mya — about 1 occurrence251–240 Mya — about 1 occurrence240–230 Mya — about 2 occurrences230–219 Mya — about 2 occurrences219–209 Mya — about 2 occurrences209–198 Mya — about 3 occurrences198–188 Mya — about 3 occurrences188–177 Mya — about 1 occurrence177–167 Mya — about 14 occurrences167–157 Mya — about 70 occurrences157–146 Mya — about 28 occurrences146–136 Mya — about 21 occurrences136–125 Mya — about 15 occurrences125–115 Mya — about 5 occurrences115–104 Mya — about 8 occurrences104–94 Mya — about 8 occurrences94–84 Mya — about 21 occurrences84–73 Mya — about 11 occurrences73–63 Mya — about 45 occurrences63–52 Mya — about 4 occurrences52–42 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences42–31 Mya — about 7 occurrences31–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–10 Mya — about 16 occurrences10–0 Mya — about 34 occurrences298.9 Mya11.7 ka313 Mya0 Mya

332 occurrences of Limatula on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

332 occurrences

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. More on what this infers.

Found in

106 formations

Chari — 23.50°N, 70.50°EOkarahia Sandstone — 42.57°S, 173.52°EOkarahia Sandstone — 42.60°S, 173.42°EOkarahia Sandstone — 42.55°S, 173.50°EKap Leslie — 70.48°N, 21.97°Wopoka — 51.32°N, 21.95°Eopoka — 51.15°N, 21.72°Eopoka — 51.00°N, 21.00°Eopoka — 51.10°N, 21.80°EDhruma — 24.23°N, 46.58°EDhruma — 25.05°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 25.53°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 25.17°N, 45.50°EDhruma — 25.37°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 25.78°N, 45.25°EKahuitara Tuff — 44.33°S, 176.00°WKahuitara Tuff — 44.24°S, 176.24°WOsmington Oolite — 50.60°N, 2.45°WOsmington Oolite — 50.63°N, 2.37°WOsmington Oolite — 50.80°N, 2.28°WCalcaire a oolithes ferrugineuses — 49.30°N, 0.07°WMitarai — 36.03°N, 136.93°EMitarai — 36.28°N, 136.93°ECalcaires marno-crayeux superieurs — 49.83°N, 4.20°ECalcaires marno-crayeux superieurs — 49.88°N, 4.09°ECalcaires marno-crayeux superieurs — 49.85°N, 4.16°ECalcaires marno-crayeux superieurs — 49.65°N, 4.64°ECalcaires marno-crayeux superieurs — 49.60°N, 4.80°ECoral Rag de Trouville — 49.30°N, 0.07°WCoral Rag de Trouville — 49.37°N, 0.08°ELillo — 51.25°N, 4.28°EMaastricht — 51.00°N, 6.00°ETrigonia clavellata — 50.80°N, 2.28°WPassage Beds — 53.97°N, 1.08°WArgiles a Lopha gregarea — 49.30°N, 0.07°WRed Bluff Tuff — 43.97°S, 176.59°WRed Bluff Tuff — 44.30°S, 176.25°WCalcaires pseudo-oolithiques superieurs — 49.88°N, 4.09°ECalcaires pseudo-oolithiques superieurs — 49.88°N, 4.04°EKarai — 11.21°N, 78.98°ECoralline Oolite — 54.23°N, 0.43°WCoralline Oolite — 54.21°N, 0.29°WMaastrichtian chalk — 56.97°N, 9.68°EChoshi — 35.72°N, 140.82°EElephant Canyon — 38.50°N, 109.67°WHonaker Trail — 38.58°N, 109.58°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Limatula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 82 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 105 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Limatula and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Limatula and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

3,607 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 258 sites for Limatula, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. 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

102 references

Each of the 332 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. 90 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 Limatula

Credit
George Brettingham Sowerby II
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Lottia limatula · SMF:360131

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 itLimidae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Wood 1839)