Discinidae

Discinidae is a family in the brachiopod superfamily Discinoidea. Unlike most brachiopods, which have uniformly calcitic or phosphatic shells, modern-day discinids incorporate tablets of silica into their valves. These are covered with vesicles into which the siliceous tablets are cemented, much like a closely packed mosaic, and held together with apatite. These vesicles eventually degrade, but nevertheless still leave an imprint on the shell itself. It has been suggested that this siliceous biomineralisation might also have occurred amongst some of the earliest Paleozoic brachiopods because similar patterns of shell imprints have been observed amongst them too.

Discinidae

British Museum · Public Domain · 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
DiscinoideaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Lingulida
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Lingulida
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Lingulida
Vision
blindPBDB, for Lingulata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 476 million years on record.

The record covers at least 477.1 Mya to 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 129 ka.

Cambrian — about 0 of 1286 occurrencesOrdovician — about 211 of 1286 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 125 of 1286 occurrencesDevonian — about 244 of 1286 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 251 of 1286 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 203 of 1286 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 38 of 1286 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 32 of 1286 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 9 of 1286 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 27 of 1286 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 4 of 1286 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 34 of 1286 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 4 of 1286 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 23 of 1286 occurrencesPaleocene — about 1 of 1286 occurrencesEocene — about 9 of 1286 occurrencesOligocene — about 14 of 1286 occurrencesMiocene — about 42 of 1286 occurrencesPliocene — about 12 of 1286 occurrencesPleistocene — about 2 of 1286 occurrences497–480 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences480–463 Mya — about 31 occurrences463–447 Mya — about 146 occurrences447–430 Mya — about 72 occurrences430–414 Mya — about 124 occurrences414–397 Mya — about 47 occurrences397–381 Mya — about 126 occurrences381–364 Mya — about 19 occurrences364–348 Mya — about 39 occurrences348–331 Mya — about 58 occurrences331–315 Mya — about 59 occurrences315–298 Mya — about 113 occurrences298–281 Mya — about 33 occurrences281–265 Mya — about 79 occurrences265–248 Mya — about 113 occurrences248–232 Mya — about 46 occurrences232–215 Mya — about 4 occurrences215–199 Mya — about 5 occurrences199–182 Mya — about 20 occurrences182–166 Mya — about 9 occurrences166–149 Mya — about 4 occurrences149–132 Mya — about 31 occurrences132–116 Mya — about 2 occurrences116–99 Mya — about 1 occurrence99–83 Mya — about 20 occurrences83–66 Mya — about 3 occurrences66–50 Mya — about 4 occurrences50–33 Mya — about 7 occurrences33–17 Mya — about 29 occurrences17–0 Mya — about 40 occurrences477.1 Mya774 ka497 Mya0 Mya

1,286 occurrences of Discinidae on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. 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

1,286 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

477 formations

Phosphoria — 42.97°N, 106.78°WPhosphoria — 39.60°N, 110.82°WPhosphoria — 47.06°N, 109.43°WPhosphoria — 44.00°N, 114.00°WPhosphoria — 42.32°N, 111.24°WPhosphoria — 42.26°N, 111.01°WPhosphoria — 41.06°N, 111.54°WPhosphoria — 41.65°N, 111.10°WPhosphoria — 42.09°N, 110.93°WPhosphoria — 41.45°N, 111.39°WPhosphoria — 42.67°N, 108.68°WPhosphoria — 43.19°N, 109.16°WKap Leslie — 70.48°N, 21.97°WMoscow — 42.70°N, 76.75°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.82°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 78.68°WMoscow — 42.72°N, 76.44°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 76.73°WMoscow — 42.79°N, 76.15°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 76.03°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 75.91°WMoscow — 42.69°N, 75.60°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 75.48°WMoscow — 42.60°N, 74.95°WMoscow — 42.55°N, 74.82°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 77.57°WMoscow — 42.80°N, 77.25°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 76.95°WMoscow — 42.47°N, 74.47°WSecond Abden Shale — 56.07°N, 3.17°WGraham — 33.02°N, 98.64°WGraham — 33.11°N, 98.59°WGraham — 33.03°N, 98.65°WGraham — 31.50°N, 99.37°WGraham — 31.44°N, 99.34°WGraham — 32.73°N, 98.64°WGraham — 33.26°N, 98.12°WGraham — 33.19°N, 98.11°WGraham — 33.17°N, 98.16°WGraham — 33.10°N, 98.40°WGraham — 33.12°N, 98.51°WLongtan — 26.50°N, 105.52°ELongtan — 26.25°N, 107.50°ELongtan — 31.08°N, 119.71°ELongtan — 26.14°N, 105.28°ELongtan — 26.15°N, 105.29°EOverton — 52.48°N, 2.63°WPark City — 42.97°N, 106.78°WPark City — 39.60°N, 110.82°WPark City — 47.06°N, 109.43°WPark City — 44.00°N, 114.00°WPark City — 43.19°N, 109.16°WPark City — 43.54°N, 108.70°WCherokee Shale — 37.60°N, 94.68°WCherokee Shale — 37.32°N, 94.93°WCherokee Shale — 37.17°N, 95.11°WCherokee Shale — 37.04°N, 95.17°WCherokee Shale — 37.07°N, 95.11°WCherokee Shale — 37.84°N, 94.35°WCherokee Shale — 37.42°N, 94.77°WCherokee Shale — 37.27°N, 94.82°WCherokee Shale — 37.60°N, 94.62°WGeneseo — 42.67°N, 75.59°WGeneseo — 42.66°N, 75.40°WGeneseo — 42.62°N, 75.37°WGeneseo — 42.66°N, 76.71°WGeneseo — 42.57°N, 75.25°WGeneseo — 42.52°N, 75.01°WGeneseo — 42.64°N, 75.77°WPonta Grossa — 24.25°S, 49.70°WPonta Grossa — 26.07°S, 52.58°WPonta Grossa — 25.08°S, 50.15°WPonta Grossa — 24.50°S, 50.40°WPonta Grossa — 25.43°S, 50.40°WValhallfonna — 79.85°N, 17.67°EMancos Shale — 36.35°N, 109.82°WMancos Shale — 36.04°N, 111.04°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 78.79°WLudlowville — 42.85°N, 78.64°WLudlowville — 42.85°N, 78.64°WLudlowville — 42.90°N, 78.22°WLudlowville — 42.84°N, 77.90°WLudlowville — 42.81°N, 75.54°WCopacabana — 15.87°S, 68.92°WCopacabana — 16.08°S, 69.11°WManacapuru — 3.13°S, 51.78°WManacapuru — 3.18°S, 51.85°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.91°N, 95.91°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.18°N, 96.60°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.39°N, 96.40°WRed Eagle Limestone — 39.36°N, 96.06°WRed Eagle Limestone — 38.83°N, 96.10°WForaker Limestone — 39.85°N, 95.67°WForaker Limestone — 39.19°N, 96.57°WForaker Limestone — 39.91°N, 95.91°WForaker Limestone — 39.38°N, 96.40°WForaker Limestone — 38.72°N, 96.16°WForaker Limestone — 38.02°N, 96.28°WChoptank — 38.39°N, 76.57°WChoptank — 38.41°N, 76.48°WChoptank — 38.38°N, 76.38°WChoptank — 38.52°N, 76.51°WJonstorp — 58.36°N, 25.57°EWhitby Mudstone — 54.40°N, 0.50°WWhitby Mudstone — 54.45°N, 0.57°WCobra — 34.13°S, 150.00°EKope — 39.00°N, 84.00°WKope — 39.06°N, 84.44°WCabaniss — 37.49°N, 94.57°WCabaniss — 37.59°N, 89.70°WCabaniss — 38.64°N, 90.42°WCabaniss — 38.10°N, 94.36°WCabaniss — 38.28°N, 93.98°WCabaniss — 38.47°N, 93.87°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Discinidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 453 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 156 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Discinidae and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Discinidae and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

1,776 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1,142 sites for Discinidae, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

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

450 references

Each of the 1,286 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. 438 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Discinidae

Credit
British Museum
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Discinidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itDiscinoidea through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1840