Praenuculidae

Praenuculidae
Temporal range: Ordovician - Devonian 487–391 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Nuculida
Superfamily: Nuculoidea
Family: Praenuculidae
McAlester, 1969
Subfamilies

See text

Praenuculidae is an extinct family of prehistoric bivalves in the superfamily Nuculoidea.[1] Praenuculidae species lived from the early Ordovician, Arenig stage through the Early Devonian Emsian stage.[2] Praenuculidae fossils are found worldwide, present on every continent except Antarctica.[2] Species in this family are thought to have been sessile, attached to the substrate in shallow infaunal marine water environments, where they formed shells of an aragonite composition. The family Praenuculidae was named by A. Lee McAlester in 1969.[2]

  1. ^ Carter, J.G.; et al. (2011). "A Synoptical Classification of the Bivalvia (Mollusca)" (PDF). Paleontological Contributions. 4: 1–47.
  2. ^ a b c The Paleobiology Database Praenuculidae entry accessed 11 January 2012