![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Gryphaea_dilatata_internal.jpg/640px-Gryphaea_dilatata_internal.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Gryphaea dilatata
Extinct species of bivalve / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gryphea dilatata, common name "devil's toenail"[1] is a species of Jurassic oyster, an extinct marine bivalve mollusc in the family Gryphaeidae.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2008) |
Quick Facts Scientific classification, Binomial name ...
Gryphaea dilatata | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Gryphaea dilatata, 5½cm long | |
![]() | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Bivalvia |
Order: | Ostreida |
Family: | Gryphaeidae |
Genus: | †Gryphaea |
Species: | †G. dilatata |
Binomial name | |
†Gryphaea dilatata J. Sowerby, 1818 | |
Close
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.