Lingula

Lingula is a genus of brachiopods within the class Lingulata. Lingula has been historically considered a 'living fossil' with members stretching back to the Cambrian, but those fossils likely represent other genera in the order Lingulida and the genus likely first originated in the early Cenozoic or late Cretaceous. Like its relatives, it has two unadorned organo-phosphatic valves and a long fleshy stalk. Lingula lives in burrows in barren sandy coastal seafloor and feeds by filtering detritus from the water. It can be detected by a short row of three openings through which it takes in water (sides) and expels it again (middle).

Lingula

Drow_male · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
Sits inside
LingulidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Lingulidae
Life habit
infaunalPBDB, for Lingulidae
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB, for Lingulidae
Vision
blindPBDB, for Lingulata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 501 million years on record.

The record covers at least 504.5 Mya to 2.58 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 506.5 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Cambrian — about 1 of 1046 occurrencesOrdovician — about 100 of 1046 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 161 of 1046 occurrencesDevonian — about 239 of 1046 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 120 of 1046 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 101 of 1046 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 51 of 1046 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 35 of 1046 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 22 of 1046 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 54 of 1046 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 15 of 1046 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 35 of 1046 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 26 of 1046 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 60 of 1046 occurrencesPaleocene — about 1 of 1046 occurrencesEocene — about 7 of 1046 occurrencesOligocene — about 0 of 1046 occurrencesMiocene — about 18 of 1046 occurrencesPliocene — about 0 of 1046 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1 of 1046 occurrences517–499 Mya — about 1 occurrence499–482 Mya — about 3 occurrences482–465 Mya — about 18 occurrences465–448 Mya — about 66 occurrences448–431 Mya — about 116 occurrences431–413 Mya — about 79 occurrences413–396 Mya — about 33 occurrences396–379 Mya — about 146 occurrences379–362 Mya — about 30 occurrences362–344 Mya — about 32 occurrences344–327 Mya — about 15 occurrences327–310 Mya — about 41 occurrences310–293 Mya — about 48 occurrences293–276 Mya — about 22 occurrences276–258 Mya — about 45 occurrences258–241 Mya — about 97 occurrences241–224 Mya — about 24 occurrences224–207 Mya — about 5 occurrences207–189 Mya — about 32 occurrences189–172 Mya — about 31 occurrences172–155 Mya — about 20 occurrences155–138 Mya — about 32 occurrences138–121 Mya — about 4 occurrences121–103 Mya — about 15 occurrences103–86 Mya — about 28 occurrences86–69 Mya — about 28 occurrences69–52 Mya — about 10 occurrences52–34 Mya — about 5 occurrences34–17 Mya — about 3 occurrences17–0 Mya — about 16 occurrences504.5 Mya2.58 Mya517 Mya0 Mya

1,046 occurrences of Lingula on record, most of them in the Devonian. 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

1,046 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

376 formations

Moscow — 42.70°N, 76.75°WMoscow — 42.88°N, 78.42°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 78.68°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 77.90°WMoscow — 42.78°N, 76.03°WMoscow — 42.59°N, 74.70°WMoscow — 42.56°N, 74.58°WMoscow — 42.69°N, 76.74°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 75.91°WMoscow — 42.66°N, 75.38°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 75.48°WMoscow — 42.55°N, 74.82°WMoscow — 42.52°N, 74.86°WMoscow — 42.78°N, 77.33°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 76.95°WMoscow — 42.68°N, 75.57°WMoscow — 42.57°N, 74.95°WMoscow — 42.47°N, 74.47°WFeixianguan — 28.10°N, 105.04°EFeixianguan — 29.91°N, 106.52°EFeixianguan — 27.04°N, 105.95°EFeixianguan — 25.94°N, 104.50°EFeixianguan — 28.96°N, 106.92°EFeixianguan — 27.46°N, 107.14°EFeixianguan — 29.49°N, 106.40°EFeixianguan — 30.13°N, 106.45°ERoss Brook — 45.62°N, 61.97°WGeneseo Shale — 42.63°N, 76.70°WRoss Point — 45.62°N, 61.97°WPhosphoria — 42.97°N, 106.78°WPhosphoria — 39.60°N, 110.82°WPhosphoria — 47.06°N, 109.43°WPhosphoria — 44.00°N, 114.00°WPhosphoria — 42.32°N, 111.24°WPhosphoria — 42.26°N, 111.01°WPhosphoria — 41.06°N, 111.54°WPhosphoria — 42.09°N, 110.93°WPhosphoria — 43.66°N, 111.33°WKiowa — 37.32°N, 99.75°WKiowa — 37.28°N, 99.66°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.08°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.18°WKiowa — 38.41°N, 97.99°WKiowa — 38.28°N, 98.41°WKiowa — 38.53°N, 97.90°WKiowa — 38.73°N, 97.53°WKiowa — 38.76°N, 97.86°WWewoka — 35.04°N, 96.36°WKap Leslie — 70.48°N, 21.97°WBedford Shale — 41.59°N, 81.57°WBedford Shale — 41.38°N, 81.56°WBedford Shale — 41.50°N, 81.70°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 78.79°WLudlowville — 42.80°N, 77.27°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 76.99°WLudlowville — 42.85°N, 78.64°WLudlowville — 42.94°N, 78.13°WLudlowville — 42.93°N, 76.00°WLudlowville — 42.72°N, 76.67°WLudlowville — 42.77°N, 76.71°WSkaneateles — 42.87°N, 77.88°WSkaneateles — 42.92°N, 75.93°WPonta Grossa — 24.25°S, 49.70°WPonta Grossa — 26.07°S, 52.58°WPonta Grossa — 25.08°S, 50.15°WPonta Grossa — 24.50°S, 50.40°WPonta Grossa — 25.43°S, 50.40°WWild Cow — 34.75°N, 106.25°WWild Cow — 34.95°N, 106.30°WMartinsburg — 36.95°N, 81.08°WMartinsburg — 37.35°N, 80.81°WMartinsburg — 37.38°N, 80.86°WOnondaga — 40.48°N, 78.27°WOnondaga — 42.95°N, 76.17°WOnondaga — 42.92°N, 78.25°WNew Albany Shale — 38.48°N, 85.75°WNew Albany Shale — 38.50°N, 85.59°WNew Albany Shale — 38.67°N, 85.67°WNew Albany Shale — 39.00°N, 86.00°WVerulam — 44.60°N, 78.97°WVerulam — 44.50°N, 78.58°WVerulam — 44.50°N, 78.67°WVerulam — 44.43°N, 78.78°WVerulam — 44.53°N, 78.98°WVerulam — 44.02°N, 77.15°WVerulam — 44.50°N, 79.17°WCalcaire a gryphees — 48.00°N, 6.00°EChangxing — 29.49°N, 106.40°EChangxing — 29.91°N, 106.52°EChangxing — 28.96°N, 106.92°EChangxing — 27.46°N, 107.14°EChangxing — 30.49°N, 107.00°EBaitugan — 55.89°N, 53.34°EBaitugan — 55.74°N, 52.03°EBaitugan — 55.70°N, 51.74°EBaitugan — 54.51°N, 52.18°EBaitugan — 54.52°N, 52.12°EWoodbine — 33.68°N, 96.45°WWoodbine — 32.77°N, 97.01°WWoodbine — 32.74°N, 97.11°WWoodbine — 33.76°N, 96.54°WWoodbine — 33.66°N, 96.45°WWoodbine — 33.71°N, 96.30°WOverton — 52.48°N, 2.63°WMiaokao — 25.53°N, 103.68°EMiaokao — 26.00°N, 103.00°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Lingula has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 352 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 189 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Lingula and its relatives

Devonian

Where Lingula and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

1,959 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 951 sites for Lingula, 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

370 references

Each of the 1,046 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. 358 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 content3

Picture of Lingula

Credit
Drow_male
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
lingula iowensis · MST:PALEO:MST-SP-2227

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 itLingulidae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bruguiére 1797