Elphidium

Elphidium is an abundant genus of foraminifera. Species can be found from coastal regions out to the continental slope, and in all temperature ranges. Like other forams, fossils from different species are used to date rocks. The taxonomy of the species within this genus is disputed due to the high variability of some species.

Elphidium

Uncredited · 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
ElphidiinaePBDB
Diet
omnivorePBDB
Life habit
semi-infaunalPBDB, for Foraminifera
Motility
stationaryPBDB, for Foraminifera

Time the record covers

At least 48 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 1708 occurrencesPaleocene — about 0 of 1708 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 25 of 1708 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 87 of 1708 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 363 of 1708 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 179 of 1708 occurrencesPleistocene — about 1020 of 1708 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences58–56 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 1 occurrence54–52 Mya — about 1 occurrence52–49 Mya — about 1 occurrence49–47 Mya — about 2 occurrences47–45 Mya — about 4 occurrences45–43 Mya — about 4 occurrences43–40 Mya — about 3 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 1 occurrence38–36 Mya — about 3 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 5 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 19 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 19 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 18 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 17 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 24 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 45 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 32 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 33 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 56 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 66 occurrences11–9.0 Mya — about 38 occurrences9.0–6.7 Mya — about 46 occurrences6.7–4.5 Mya — about 80 occurrences4.5–2.2 Mya — about 212 occurrences2.2–0 Mya — about 975 occurrences48.07 Mya11.7 ka67 Mya0 Mya

1,708 occurrences of Elphidium on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

1,708 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

73 formations

Qom Formation — 33.51°N, 51.99°EQom Formation — 34.51°N, 50.95°EAcredale — 36.79°N, 76.17°WTortonian Limestone — 35.00°N, 24.76°ECanepatch — 33.83°N, 78.89°WLithothamnion limestone — 45.19°N, 16.37°EGuitar Formation — 9.12°N, 92.80°EChaya — 21.97°N, 70.50°EChaya — 23.33°N, 71.93°EEbelsberg — 48.21°N, 14.22°EBear Bluff — 33.90°N, 78.84°WRosignano Limestone — 43.40°N, 10.47°ERosignano Limestone — 43.43°N, 10.45°ERosignano Limestone — 43.50°N, 10.43°EAl Khums — 30.50°N, 13.50°EIhungia — 40.35°S, 176.28°EBredasdorp — 34.53°S, 20.03°EAlexandria — 33.97°S, 25.62°EQuilon Limestone — 8.97°N, 76.63°EBolognano — 42.17°N, 14.04°ECaloosahatchee — 26.89°N, 82.01°WBermont — 26.89°N, 82.01°WLagunitas — 21.62°N, 79.53°WCroatan — 35.36°N, 76.82°WKadyny — 54.27°N, 19.43°EBurgeschleinitz — 48.63°N, 15.78°ESouth Bight II — 51.54°N, 178.98°ETalbot — 38.07°N, 76.36°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Elphidium has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 49 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,370 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Elphidium and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Elphidium and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

2,693 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 1,288 sites for Elphidium, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. 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

164 references

Each of the 1,708 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. 152 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 content3

Picture of Elphidium

Credit
nobody named on the record
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Elphidium sp. · l-cb

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution-NonCommercial
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

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 itElphidiinae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Monfort 1808