Musculus discors

Musculus discors, or the discord mussel, is a species of bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. It can be found along the Atlantic coast. In North America it ranges from Labrador to Long Island Sound, around Alaska and in northern European waters, including around most of the coast of Britain. It is a global IUCN Red List species, and of national conservation importance within Great Britain.

Musculus discors

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
MusculusPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Musculus
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Musculus
Motility
stationaryPBDB, for Musculus
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 3.4 million years on record.

The record covers at least 3.6 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Miocene — about 0 of 5 occurrencesPliocene — about 2 of 5 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 3 of 5 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 0 of 5 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.6 Mya129 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

5 occurrences of Musculus discors on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. 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

5 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

2 formations

Presumpscot — 43.84°N, 70.10°WPresumpscot — 43.89°N, 70.28°WKattendijk — 51.25°N, 4.28°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Musculus discors has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 1 occurrence has no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Musculus discors and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Musculus discors and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

The Paleobiology Database records no fossil sites for Musculus discors, so there is nothing to compare it with.

Entered from

3 references

Each of the 5 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. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Musculus discors

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
Musculus discors · USNM:IZ:USNM 73720

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itMusculus through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1767)