Lithophaga lithophaga

Lithophaga lithophaga, also known as date shell or date mussel, is a species of Bivalvia belonging to the family Mytilidae.

Lithophaga lithophaga

Gronk · CC BY-SA 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
Sits inside
LithophagaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Lithophaga
Life habit
boringPBDB, for Lithophaga
Motility
stationaryPBDB, for Lithophaga
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia
Environment
lagoonal,coastal,inner shelf,outer shelf,oceanic,brackish,freshwaterPBDB, for Mytilidae

Time the record covers

At least 15 million years on record.

The record covers at least 15.98 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 20.45 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 49 of 54 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 54 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 54 occurrencesPleistocene21–20 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–17 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 3 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 8 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences10–9.8 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.8–9.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences9.1–8.4 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences8.4–7.7 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences7.7–7.0 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.0–6.3 Mya — about 7 occurrences6.3–5.6 Mya — about 7 occurrences5.6–4.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.9–4.2 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences4.2–3.5 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.8–2.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.1–1.4 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences1.4–698 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences698 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences15.98 Mya11.7 ka20.9 Mya0 Mya

54 occurrences of Lithophaga lithophaga on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

54 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

12 formations

Termofourà — 45.05°N, 7.80°EKoronia — 35.08°N, 33.17°EPinczow — 50.53°N, 20.53°ENiechobrz — 49.92°N, 21.87°EWeglin — 50.72°N, 21.95°EWeglinek — 50.72°N, 21.95°ELychow — 50.69°N, 22.03°EGirbova de Sus — 46.43°N, 23.63°EMiddle Fars — 29.00°N, 51.58°EUpper Fars — 26.64°N, 55.88°ELindos Acropolis — 35.92°N, 27.83°EUpper Coralline Limestone — 35.93°N, 14.33°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Lithophaga lithophaga has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 41 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Lithophaga lithophaga and its relatives

Miocene

Where Lithophaga lithophaga and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,057 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 50 sites for Lithophaga lithophaga, and this reads all 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

22 references

Each of the 54 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. 10 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 content1

Picture of Lithophaga lithophaga

Credit
Gronk
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Lithophaga lithophaga was found in Sketchfab.

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 itLithophaga through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

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