Gryphaea dilatata

Gryphaea dilatata
Temporal range: oxfordian–kimmeridgian
Gryphaea dilatata, 8½cm high
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreida
Family: Gryphaeidae
Genus: Gryphaea
Species:
G. dilatata
Binomial name
Gryphaea dilatata

Gryphea dilatata, common name "devil's toenail"[1] is a species of Jurassic oyster, an extinct marine bivalve mollusc in the family Gryphaeidae.

This fossil oyster is frequently found in abundance in the localities where it occurs. It belongs to the Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian clays of the Jurassic and can grow to a diameter in excess of 15 centimetres (5.9 in).

It lived a sedentary life-style, settled on the sea bed and was a filter feeder. Its abundance at certain localities — such as Furzy Cliff, Weymouth, Dorset, (England) — suggests it often formed large beds of hundreds of individuals.

It is closely related to the similar species Gryphaea dilobotes.

  1. ^ http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?img=59494. Retrieved 2008-11-24. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)