Gryphaea

Gryphaea is a genus of marine gryphaeid oysters known from the Mesozoic Era. Its fossils are almost worldwide-known but they are mostly common in Jurassic strata from Europe, North America, and South America. Gryphaea fossils are particularly important in the tectonically deformed Andean basins of Argentina and Chile and serve as index fossils. Gryphaea species appeared during the Late Triassic period and flourished during the Early Jurassic, eventually becoming extinct around the Late Jurassic. The name "devil's toenail" originated because of the curved shells of Gryphaea resembling a toenail. There used to be a common folk belief that carrying one of these fossils could prevent rheumatism.

Gryphaea

Hallettx · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
GryphaeinaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Gryphaeidae
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Gryphaeidae
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Gryphaeidae
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia
Environment
marine,brackishPBDB, for Ostreida

Time the record covers

At least 199 million years on record.

The record covers at least 237 Mya to 37.71 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 241.464 Mya to 33.9 Mya.

Middle Triassic — about 6 of 1216 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 47 of 1216 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 643 of 1216 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 262 of 1216 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 107 of 1216 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 83 of 1216 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 34 of 1216 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 7 of 1216 occurrencesEocene — about 27 of 1216 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 0 of 1216 occurrences246–238 Mya — about 4 occurrences238–231 Mya — about 9 occurrences231–224 Mya — about 9 occurrences224–217 Mya — about 12 occurrences217–210 Mya — about 10 occurrences210–202 Mya — about 8 occurrences202–195 Mya — about 150 occurrences195–188 Mya — about 196 occurrences188–181 Mya — about 262 occurrences181–174 Mya — about 40 occurrences174–166 Mya — about 93 occurrences166–159 Mya — about 188 occurrences159–152 Mya — about 75 occurrences152–145 Mya — about 8 occurrences145–138 Mya — about 7 occurrences138–130 Mya — about 2 occurrences130–123 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences123–116 Mya — about 3 occurrences116–109 Mya — about 18 occurrences109–102 Mya — about 45 occurrences102–95 Mya — about 14 occurrences95–87 Mya — about 7 occurrences87–80 Mya — about 9 occurrences80–73 Mya — about 9 occurrences73–66 Mya — about 5 occurrences66–59 Mya — about 5 occurrences59–51 Mya — about 8 occurrences51–44 Mya — about 7 occurrences44–37 Mya — about 14 occurrences37–30 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences237 Mya37.71 Mya246 Mya30 Mya

1,216 occurrences of Gryphaea on record, most of them in the Early Jurassic. 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

1,216 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

156 formations

Dhruma — 24.23°N, 46.58°EDhruma — 22.50°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 21.88°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 22.83°N, 46.83°EDhruma — 23.97°N, 46.17°EDhruma — 23.08°N, 46.17°EDhruma — 22.62°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 21.12°N, 45.50°EDhruma — 24.75°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 25.53°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 26.92°N, 44.00°EDhruma — 25.17°N, 45.50°EDhruma — 25.37°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 25.78°N, 45.25°EDhruma — 25.05°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 23.97°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 23.08°N, 46.33°EDhruma — 22.17°N, 46.83°EDhruma — 21.88°N, 45.83°EDhruma — 25.37°N, 45.50°EDhruma — 25.70°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 25.97°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 26.20°N, 44.83°EDhruma — 26.33°N, 44.83°ETwin Creek Limestone — 44.00°N, 108.00°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.41°N, 111.79°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.42°N, 111.44°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.23°N, 111.27°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.87°N, 111.17°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.65°N, 111.07°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.45°N, 111.26°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.34°N, 111.16°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.84°N, 110.98°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.40°N, 111.04°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.33°N, 111.00°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.32°N, 110.70°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.17°N, 110.83°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.10°N, 110.84°WTwin Creek Limestone — 41.94°N, 110.86°WTwin Creek Limestone — 41.92°N, 111.25°WTwin Creek Limestone — 41.51°N, 111.33°WTwin Creek Limestone — 41.45°N, 111.37°WTwin Creek Limestone — 40.67°N, 111.58°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.22°N, 112.10°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.63°N, 111.27°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.84°N, 111.15°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.51°N, 110.51°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.70°N, 111.29°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.18°N, 111.11°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.34°N, 110.59°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.25°N, 110.78°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.22°N, 110.65°WTwin Creek Limestone — 43.14°N, 110.58°WTwin Creek Limestone — 42.98°N, 110.57°WCalcaire a gryphees — 48.00°N, 6.00°EKiowa — 37.32°N, 99.75°WKiowa — 37.28°N, 99.66°WKiowa — 37.22°N, 99.90°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.08°WKiowa — 37.40°N, 99.02°WKiowa — 37.44°N, 99.18°WBarahona Limestone — 41.93°N, 3.15°WBarahona Limestone — 40.67°N, 1.20°WChari — 23.30°N, 69.97°EChari — 23.50°N, 70.50°ELautaro — 29.11°S, 70.44°WLautaro — 29.01°S, 70.18°WLautaro — 29.36°S, 70.38°WLautaro — 29.36°S, 70.19°WLautaro — 29.46°S, 70.18°WLautaro — 29.43°S, 70.13°WLautaro — 27.97°S, 70.02°WLautaro — 28.94°S, 70.33°WLautaro — 28.20°S, 70.00°WLautaro — 28.12°S, 69.96°WLautaro — 28.16°S, 69.86°WLautaro — 28.57°S, 70.10°WLautaro — 28.66°S, 70.07°WDenton — 32.75°N, 97.25°WDenton — 32.83°N, 97.23°WDenton — 33.15°N, 97.23°WDenton — 33.35°N, 97.18°WDenton — 33.37°N, 97.18°WDenton — 33.52°N, 97.17°WDenton — 33.72°N, 97.17°WTurmiel Fm — 40.40°N, 1.50°WRio Palomar — 41.29°N, 0.79°WArgiles a Lopha gregarea — 49.30°N, 0.07°WCape Stewart Beds — 70.44°N, 22.64°WCape Stewart Beds — 70.46°N, 22.71°WCape Stewart Beds — 70.47°N, 22.64°WShuqra — 14.27°N, 48.57°EShuqra — 14.30°N, 48.47°EShuqra — 14.32°N, 48.45°ELower Lias — 51.80°N, 1.88°WBlue Lias — 50.00°N, 2.00°WBlue Lias — 51.00°N, 3.00°WBlue Lias — 50.71°N, 2.96°WTurmiel — 40.43°N, 1.42°WTurmiel — 40.40°N, 1.50°WCalcaire a oolithes ferrugineuses — 49.30°N, 0.07°WBarahona — 41.29°N, 0.79°WOzirovo — 42.86°N, 23.25°EOzirovo — 42.77°N, 24.71°EOzirovo — 43.25°N, 23.41°EOzirovo — 43.03°N, 23.23°EOzirovo — 43.06°N, 23.14°EOzirovo — 43.05°N, 23.03°ETuwaiq Mt.Lst. — 22.62°N, 46.50°ETuwaiq Mt.Lst. — 22.43°N, 46.42°ETuwaiq Mt.Lst. — 25.05°N, 45.67°ETuwaiq Mt.Lst. — 25.37°N, 45.50°ETataouine — 33.00°N, 10.47°EHanifa — 23.50°N, 46.85°EHanifa — 22.60°N, 46.37°EHanifa — 24.95°N, 46.15°EHanifa — 25.63°N, 45.67°EHanifa — 26.33°N, 45.00°EPeschanka — 43.25°N, 131.72°EPeschanka — 43.30°N, 132.05°EPeschanka — 43.32°N, 131.83°EPeschanka — 43.55°N, 131.98°EPeschanka — 43.63°N, 132.40°EPeschanka — 43.67°N, 132.05°EPeschanka — 43.47°N, 132.37°ECape Stewart — 70.45°N, 22.65°WCape Stewart — 70.44°N, 22.65°WCape Stewart — 70.47°N, 22.36°WCape Stewart — 70.46°N, 22.33°W

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The named rock units Gryphaea has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 132 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 436 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Gryphaea and its relatives

Early Jurassic

Where Gryphaea and its relatives were recorded in the Early Jurassic.

Found in the same rock

592 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 879 sites for Gryphaea, 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

188 references

Each of the 1,216 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. 176 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 content2

Picture of Gryphaea

Credit
Hallettx
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

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

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 itGryphaeinae through timeFormations of the Early JurassicThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lamarck 1801