Gigantostrea

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Gigantostrea
Temporal range: Eocene - Miocene
Fossil shell of Gigantostrea gigantica from Oligocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreida
Family: Gryphaeidae
Genus: Gigantostrea
(Sacco, 1897)

Gigantostrea is an extinct genus of marine bivalve mollusks belonging to the family Gryphaeidae.[1]

This genus is known in the fossil record from the Eocene to the Miocene (age range: from 48.6 to 15.97 million years ago).[2] These fossils have been found in Europe and United States.[2][3]

Description[edit]

Shells of Gigantostrea can reach a size of about 100 millimetres (3.9 in).[4] These fossil shells are brittle, inequivalve, with the lower valve convex and the upper valve flat or slightly concave. The lower valve was cemented to the substrate.

Species[edit]

Species within this genus include:[2]

  • Gigantostrea gigantica Solander in Brander 1766
  • Gigantostrea trigonalis Conrad 1854

References[edit]

External links[edit]