Unionidae

The Unionidae are a family of freshwater mussels, the largest in the order Unionida, the bivalve molluscs sometimes known as river mussels, or simply as unionids.

Unionidae

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region · 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
Also called
freshwater musselPBDB
Sits inside
UnionoideaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Bivalvia
Life habit
infaunalPBDB, for Bivalvia
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB, for Bivalvia
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia
Environment
freshwaterPBDB, for Unionida

Time the record covers

At least 264 million years on record.

The record covers at least 264.28 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 266.9 Mya to 0 Mya.

Permian — about 11 of 410 occurrencesEarly Triassic — about 0 of 410 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 5 of 410 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 31 of 410 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 5 of 410 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 29 of 410 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 31 of 410 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 43 of 410 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 95 of 410 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 14 of 410 occurrencesEocene — about 48 of 410 occurrencesOligocene — about 8 of 410 occurrencesMiocene — about 33 of 410 occurrencesPliocene — about 13 of 410 occurrencesPleistocene — about 37 of 410 occurrences272–263 Mya — about 1 occurrence263–254 Mya — about 5 occurrences254–245 Mya — about 6 occurrences245–236 Mya — about 4 occurrences236–227 Mya — about 6 occurrences227–218 Mya — about 9 occurrences218–209 Mya — about 9 occurrences209–200 Mya — about 7 occurrences200–191 Mya — about 2 occurrences191–181 Mya — about 2 occurrences181–172 Mya — about 3 occurrences172–163 Mya — about 25 occurrences163–154 Mya — about 9 occurrences154–145 Mya — about 20 occurrences145–136 Mya — about 9 occurrences136–127 Mya — about 7 occurrences127–118 Mya — about 17 occurrences118–109 Mya — about 10 occurrences109–100 Mya — about 6 occurrences100–91 Mya — about 19 occurrences91–82 Mya — about 9 occurrences82–73 Mya — about 31 occurrences73–64 Mya — about 38 occurrences64–54 Mya — about 12 occurrences54–45 Mya — about 12 occurrences45–36 Mya — about 21 occurrences36–27 Mya — about 15 occurrences27–18 Mya — about 11 occurrences18–9.1 Mya — about 21 occurrences9.1–0 Mya — about 62 occurrences264.28 Mya11.7 ka272 Mya0 Mya

410 occurrences of Unionidae 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

410 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

156 formations

Woodbine — 32.93°N, 97.08°WWoodbine — 33.40°N, 96.96°WWoodbine — 33.63°N, 97.13°WWoodbine — 33.76°N, 96.54°WWoodbine — 33.64°N, 96.61°WWoodbine — 33.69°N, 96.39°WMorrison — 41.89°N, 106.00°WMorrison — 37.53°N, 103.68°WMorrison — 38.25°N, 110.81°WMorrison — 38.81°N, 108.32°WMorrison — 39.15°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 39.15°N, 108.77°WMorrison — 44.46°N, 104.73°WMorrison — 39.01°N, 111.02°WMorrison — 44.06°N, 106.72°WMorrison — 44.05°N, 107.46°WOldman — 50.75°N, 111.51°WOldman — 49.10°N, 110.94°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.68°WOldman — 49.08°N, 110.84°WOldman — 49.16°N, 110.72°WHell Creek — 45.53°N, 101.63°WHell Creek — 46.90°N, 101.50°WHell Creek — 45.46°N, 104.16°WHell Creek — 47.57°N, 106.95°WRavenscrag — 49.70°N, 109.00°WRavenscrag — 49.57°N, 108.81°WRavenscrag — 49.40°N, 105.63°WRavenscrag — 49.13°N, 104.88°WRavenscrag — 49.70°N, 110.50°WRavenscrag — 49.10°N, 102.88°WHeadon Beds — 50.72°N, 1.59°WLealt Shale — 56.92°N, 6.15°WLance — 41.57°N, 108.67°WLance — 43.13°N, 104.49°WLance — 43.12°N, 104.64°WLance — 43.00°N, 104.50°WLance — 43.15°N, 104.57°WLance — 43.17°N, 104.53°WChinle — 35.03°N, 109.83°WChinle — 35.84°N, 111.25°WChinle — 35.88°N, 111.28°WChinle — 35.65°N, 111.12°WChinle — 37.56°N, 110.28°WChinle — 34.93°N, 109.70°WLameta — 22.92°N, 79.32°ELameta — 20.75°N, 79.48°ELameta — 20.85°N, 79.25°ELameta — 23.77°N, 78.72°ELameta — 20.71°N, 79.29°ELameta — 20.35°N, 79.05°EQuemuoco — 33.33°N, 92.00°EFort Crittenden — 31.69°N, 110.81°WHempstead — 50.72°N, 1.45°WChhidru — 32.55°N, 71.78°EChhidru — 32.47°N, 71.97°EChhidru — 32.72°N, 71.75°EZiliujing — 31.86°N, 104.73°EZiliujing — 29.39°N, 104.03°EZiliujing — 29.45°N, 107.38°EZiliujing — 31.05°N, 110.75°EKuwajima — 36.17°N, 136.63°EKiyokawa — 35.37°N, 140.01°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.34°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°ETwo Medicine — 47.77°N, 112.29°WTwo Medicine — 48.63°N, 113.75°WTwo Medicine — 47.63°N, 112.58°WWakino — 33.75°N, 130.67°ELower Headon Beds — 50.69°N, 1.53°WDomanda — 29.93°N, 70.12°EDomanda — 30.03°N, 70.15°EDomanda — 29.97°N, 70.12°EDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.52°WDinosaur Park — 50.75°N, 111.47°WDinosaur Park — 50.82°N, 111.60°WShaximiao — 32.46°N, 105.84°EShaximiao — 31.90°N, 104.91°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Unionidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 132 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 87 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Unionidae and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

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

Found in the same rock

2,733 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 337 sites for Unionidae, 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

213 references

Each of the 410 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. 201 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 Unionidae

Credit
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region
Licence
Public Domain
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
UNIONIDAE indet. · UF:IP:132095

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 itUnionoidea through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Rafinesque 1820