Matthevia

Matthevia is a genus of Cambrian molluscs, perhaps related to the chitons. It consists of repeated monoplacophoran-like shells; according to one hypothesis, chitons arose when these tall shells began to overlap over the generations. The tall element of the shell was retained and forms the tips of modern chiton plates. There are distinct head, 'centre', and tail valves, which occur approximately in the ratio 1:5:1 — suggesting a seven-plated configuration.

Matthevia

Wilson44691 · 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
MattheviidaePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 2 million years on record.

The record covers at least 488.9 Mya to 486.85 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 538.8 Mya to 477.1 Mya.

Cambrian — about 11 of 13 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 2 of 13 occurrencesOrdovician540–538 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences538–536 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences536–534 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences534–531 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences531–529 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences529–527 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences527–525 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences525–523 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences523–521 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences521–519 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences519–517 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences517–514 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences514–512 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences512–510 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences510–508 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences508–506 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences506–504 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences504–502 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences502–499 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences499–497 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences497–495 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences495–493 Mya — about 1 occurrence493–491 Mya — about 4 occurrences491–489 Mya — about 4 occurrences489–487 Mya — about 1 occurrence487–484 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences484–482 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences482–480 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences480–478 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences478–476 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences488.9 Mya – 486.85 Mya540 Mya476 Mya

13 occurrences of Matthevia on record, most of them in the Cambrian. 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

13 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

5 formations

Notch Peak — 40.52°N, 112.63°WNotch Peak — 39.22°N, 113.40°WNotch Peak — 38.70°N, 113.52°WNotch Peak — 38.78°N, 113.31°WGasconade — 37.97°N, 91.53°WGasconade — 38.21°N, 90.67°WHoyt Limestone — 43.21°N, 75.46°WTrempealeau — 44.52°N, 89.57°WWhitehall — 42.56°N, 73.40°W

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The named rock units Matthevia has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed.

Matthevia and its relatives

Cambrian

Where Matthevia and its relatives were recorded in the Cambrian.

Found in the same rock

40 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 13 sites for Matthevia, 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

7 references

Each of the 13 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. 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 Matthevia

Credit
Wilson44691
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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 itMattheviidae through timeFormations of the CambrianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Walcott 1885