Inoceramus

Inoceramus is an extinct genus of fossil marine pteriomorphian bivalves that superficially resembled the related winged pearly oysters of the extant genus Pteria. They lived from the Early Jurassic to latest Cretaceous.

Inoceramus

Eunostos · 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
InoceramidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 143 million years on record.

The record covers at least 215.38 Mya to 72.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 227.3 Mya to 66 Mya.

Late Triassic — about 29 of 2595 occurrencesLate TriassicEarly Jurassic — about 12 of 2595 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 156 of 2595 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 35 of 2595 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 233 of 2595 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 2131 of 2595 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 0 of 2595 occurrences231–225 Mya — about 3 occurrences225–219 Mya — about 6 occurrences219–214 Mya — about 7 occurrences214–208 Mya — about 8 occurrences208–203 Mya — about 4 occurrences203–197 Mya — about 3 occurrences197–191 Mya — about 3 occurrences191–186 Mya — about 3 occurrences186–180 Mya — about 2 occurrences180–175 Mya — about 3 occurrences175–169 Mya — about 95 occurrences169–163 Mya — about 49 occurrences163–158 Mya — about 18 occurrences158–152 Mya — about 7 occurrences152–147 Mya — about 9 occurrences147–141 Mya — about 18 occurrences141–135 Mya — about 15 occurrences135–130 Mya — about 17 occurrences130–124 Mya — about 20 occurrences124–119 Mya — about 27 occurrences119–113 Mya — about 20 occurrences113–108 Mya — about 38 occurrences108–102 Mya — about 66 occurrences102–96 Mya — about 484 occurrences96–91 Mya — about 551 occurrences91–85 Mya — about 315 occurrences85–80 Mya — about 273 occurrences80–74 Mya — about 168 occurrences74–68 Mya — about 243 occurrences68–63 Mya — about 117 occurrences215.38 Mya72.2 Mya231 Mya63 Mya

2,595 occurrences of Inoceramus on record, most of them in the Late 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

2,595 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

293 formations

Mancos Shale — 36.35°N, 109.82°WMancos Shale — 35.73°N, 110.82°WMancos Shale — 35.72°N, 106.92°WMancos Shale — 36.14°N, 109.82°WMancos Shale — 36.12°N, 109.91°WMancos Shale — 36.18°N, 110.88°WMancos Shale — 36.18°N, 109.88°WMancos Shale — 36.16°N, 109.84°WMancos Shale — 35.96°N, 110.89°WMancos Shale — 36.08°N, 111.07°WMancos Shale — 40.76°N, 108.89°WMancos Shale — 38.77°N, 111.39°WMancos Shale — 35.78°N, 106.94°WMancos Shale — 36.98°N, 108.97°WMancos Shale — 35.65°N, 106.85°WMancos Shale — 38.98°N, 110.62°WMancos Shale — 36.55°N, 110.48°WMancos Shale — 36.40°N, 106.82°WMancos Shale — 34.70°N, 107.88°WMancos Shale — 32.76°N, 108.57°WMancos Shale — 35.21°N, 107.13°WMancos Shale — 35.33°N, 105.90°WMatanuska — 61.87°N, 147.35°WMatanuska — 62.03°N, 147.58°WMatanuska — 61.99°N, 147.78°WMatanuska — 61.84°N, 148.06°WMatanuska — 61.92°N, 147.62°WMatanuska — 61.94°N, 147.67°WMatanuska — 62.50°N, 150.01°WMatanuska — 62.08°N, 147.84°WMatanuska — 61.85°N, 147.41°WMatanuska — 61.84°N, 147.41°WMatanuska — 61.80°N, 147.58°WMatanuska — 61.80°N, 147.70°WMatanuska — 62.00°N, 147.22°WMatanuska — 61.92°N, 146.87°WMatanuska — 61.83°N, 147.93°WMatanuska — 61.87°N, 147.51°WMatanuska — 62.01°N, 146.80°WMatanuska — 61.99°N, 146.95°WMatanuska — 61.96°N, 147.72°WMatanuska — 62.16°N, 147.76°WMatanuska — 61.93°N, 147.07°WMatanuska — 61.99°N, 146.73°WMatanuska — 61.99°N, 147.28°WMatanuska — 61.69°N, 148.96°WMatanuska — 61.73°N, 148.75°WHinoshima — 32.47°N, 130.47°EHinoshima — 32.39°N, 130.40°EPierre Shale — 43.27°N, 104.27°WPierre Shale — 43.26°N, 104.22°WPierre Shale — 43.92°N, 102.70°WPierre Shale — 43.92°N, 102.98°WPierre Shale — 45.53°N, 100.43°WPierre Shale — 40.06°N, 106.39°WPierre Shale — 45.52°N, 100.47°WPierre Shale — 44.05°N, 101.20°WNiobrara — 38.25°N, 104.60°WNiobrara — 36.35°N, 104.60°WNiobrara — 36.37°N, 104.85°WNiobrara — 36.09°N, 104.40°WNiobrara — 36.55°N, 104.36°WNiobrara — 36.82°N, 104.01°WNiobrara — 36.59°N, 104.53°WNiobrara — 36.68°N, 104.41°WNiobrara — 36.35°N, 104.79°WNiobrara — 36.04°N, 104.62°WNiobrara — 36.28°N, 104.72°WNiobrara — 36.74°N, 104.17°WNiobrara — 39.15°N, 99.35°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.28°N, 104.72°WGreenhorn Limestone — 37.22°N, 103.60°WGreenhorn Limestone — 33.53°N, 106.22°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.55°N, 98.42°WGreenhorn Limestone — 43.27°N, 103.22°WGreenhorn Limestone — 39.93°N, 105.28°WGreenhorn Limestone — 38.20°N, 104.70°WChignik — 55.82°N, 160.62°WChignik — 55.68°N, 161.05°WChignik — 55.86°N, 159.58°WChignik — 56.29°N, 158.62°WChignik — 56.35°N, 158.51°WChignik — 56.55°N, 158.25°WChignik — 56.35°N, 158.52°WChignik — 56.31°N, 158.68°WChignik — 56.45°N, 158.41°WChignik — 55.77°N, 160.67°WChignik — 55.64°N, 160.68°WChignik — 55.72°N, 160.84°WChignik — 55.69°N, 161.01°WChignik — 55.68°N, 160.94°WPrairie Bluff — 33.93°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.97°WPrairie Bluff — 33.79°N, 88.91°WPrairie Bluff — 33.50°N, 88.81°WPrairie Bluff — 33.07°N, 88.61°WPrairie Bluff — 33.05°N, 88.56°WPrairie Bluff — 32.90°N, 88.46°WPrairie Bluff — 34.48°N, 88.98°WPrairie Bluff — 33.73°N, 88.90°WPrairie Bluff — 32.73°N, 88.30°WPrairie Bluff — 32.74°N, 88.36°WPrairie Bluff — 32.70°N, 88.17°WPrairie Bluff — 32.61°N, 88.24°WPrairie Bluff — 32.43°N, 88.03°WPrairie Bluff — 32.14°N, 87.42°WPrairie Bluff — 32.07°N, 87.33°WPrairie Bluff — 32.05°N, 86.81°WPrairie Bluff — 32.04°N, 86.79°WPrairie Bluff — 31.97°N, 86.72°WPrairie Bluff — 32.00°N, 86.48°WPrairie Bluff — 31.98°N, 86.00°WPrairie Bluff — 31.99°N, 85.92°WTropic Shale — 37.07°N, 111.62°WTropic Shale — 37.29°N, 112.69°WTropic Shale — 37.07°N, 111.54°WNacatoch Sand — 32.10°N, 96.47°WNacatoch Sand — 32.59°N, 96.31°WNacatoch Sand — 33.14°N, 95.60°WNacatoch Sand — 33.61°N, 95.05°WNacatoch Sand — 31.31°N, 96.90°WOkarahia Sandstone — 42.57°S, 173.52°EOkarahia Sandstone — 42.60°S, 173.42°EOkarahia Sandstone — 42.55°S, 173.50°EHilo — 3.67°N, 74.89°WHaida — 53.05°N, 131.78°WHaida — 53.23°N, 132.00°WBykov — 50.16°N, 155.26°ERedding — 40.64°N, 122.24°WRedding — 40.57°N, 122.00°WRedding — 40.59°N, 122.10°WRedding — 40.54°N, 122.15°WRedding — 40.65°N, 122.20°WPanoche — 37.35°N, 121.21°WPanoche — 37.45°N, 121.28°WPanoche — 37.23°N, 121.24°WPanoche — 37.23°N, 121.15°WPanoche — 36.70°N, 120.77°WMarias River Shale — 47.93°N, 110.47°WMarias River Shale — 48.65°N, 111.63°WMarias River Shale — 47.26°N, 109.68°WMarias River Shale — 47.28°N, 109.27°WMarias River Shale — 48.63°N, 112.97°WMarias River Shale — 47.00°N, 110.30°WCotinguiba — 10.76°S, 37.07°WCotinguiba — 10.86°S, 37.15°WHikagenosawa — 44.00°N, 143.00°ETarapuhi Grit — 42.57°S, 173.52°EDakhla — 25.50°N, 29.42°EDakhla — 25.50°N, 30.00°EDakhla — 25.50°N, 30.50°EDakhla — 25.00°N, 30.75°EDakhla — 25.50°N, 29.17°EChico — 39.80°N, 121.73°WChico — 39.88°N, 121.71°WChico — 38.72°N, 121.21°WArnager Limestone — 55.05°N, 14.78°EArnager Limestone — 55.06°N, 14.74°EArnager Limestone — 55.15°N, 14.72°EBlackstone — 52.00°N, 115.00°WBlackstone — 52.36°N, 116.25°WBlackstone — 53.10°N, 117.45°WBlackstone — 53.74°N, 118.23°WBlackstone — 50.74°N, 113.85°WBlackstone — 52.80°N, 116.81°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Inoceramus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 269 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,127 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Inoceramus and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Inoceramus and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,126 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 1,271 sites for Inoceramus, 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

348 references

Each of the 2,595 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. 336 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 Inoceramus

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

Laser scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Inoceramus sp. · ypm:ip:YPM IP 614951

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows 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 itInoceramidae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Sowerby 1814