Caspiconcha

Caspiconcha (ˌkæspiˈkɒŋkə) is an extinct genus of bivalve that lived in marine settings during the Late Mesozoic. The Caspiconcha molluscs lived in methane seeps in the deep ocean, for example near hydrocarbon seeps. Fauna living in these extreme environments commonly rely on a symbiotic relationship with chemosynthetic bacteria. Though not confirmed, Caspiconcha species are believed to have utilised chemosymbiosis like their relatives, by hosting the chemosynthetic bacteria in their gills. The finding sites of the Caspiconcha fossils in cold seeps, along with their close phylogenic relation to confirmed chemosymbiotic bivalves, are the main points of evidence for this.

Caspiconcha

Alva Åkerlind 01 · CC0 · 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
Sits inside
KalenteridaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Bivalvia
Life habit
infaunalPBDB, for Bivalvia
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB, for Bivalvia
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 19 million years on record.

The record covers at least 125.77 Mya to 106.3 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 132.6 Mya to 93.9 Mya.

Early Cretaceous — about 9 of 9 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 0 of 9 occurrencesLate Cretaceous133–132 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences132–131 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences131–129 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences129–128 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences128–127 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences127–125 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences125–124 Mya — about 2 occurrences124–123 Mya — about 2 occurrences123–121 Mya — about 2 occurrences113–112 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences112–111 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences111–109 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences109–108 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences108–107 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences107–105 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences105–104 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences104–103 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences103–101 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences101–100 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences100–98 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences98–97 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences97–96 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences96–94 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences94–93 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences125.77 Mya106.3 Mya133.4 Mya93.1 Mya

9 occurrences of Caspiconcha on record, most of them in the Early Cretaceous. 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

9 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

2 formations

Kuhnpasset — 74.50°N, 20.35°WUbidepea — 43.39°N, 2.56°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Caspiconcha has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Caspiconcha and its relatives

Early Cretaceous

Where Caspiconcha and its relatives were recorded in the Early Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

17 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 9 sites for Caspiconcha, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too.

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

4 references

Each of the 9 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. Each entry links to doi.org. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Caspiconcha

Credit
Alva Åkerlind 01
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Caspiconcha was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itKalenteridae through timeFormations of the Early CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Kelly 2000