Kuphus

Kuphus is a genus of shipworms, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Teredinidae. While there are four extinct species in the genus, the only extant species is Kuphus polythalamius. It is the longest bivalve mollusc in the world, where the only known permanent natural habitat is Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat in the Philippines.

Kuphus

via iDigBio · CC BY-NC · via iDigBio. 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
KuphinaePBDB
Diet
herbivorePBDB
Life habit
boringPBDB
Motility
passively mobilePBDB
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 61 million years on record.

The record covers at least 61.66 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 66 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 0 of 143 occurrencesPaleocene — about 1 of 143 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 4 of 143 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 53 of 143 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 66 of 143 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 18 of 143 occurrencesPleistocene — about 0 of 143 occurrences67–65 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences65–63 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences63–61 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 2 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 3 occurrences34–31 Mya — about 13 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 13 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 12 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 8 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 9 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 11 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 15 occurrences18–16 Mya — about 14 occurrences16–13 Mya — about 5 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–9.0 Mya — about 5 occurrences9.0–6.7 Mya — about 5 occurrences6.7–4.5 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.5–2.2 Mya — about 15 occurrences2.2–0 Mya — about 1 occurrence61.66 Mya11.7 ka67 Mya0 Mya

143 occurrences of Kuphus on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

143 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

36 formations

Chipola — 30.46°N, 85.16°WChipola — 30.26°N, 85.17°WChipola — 30.45°N, 85.16°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.63°N, 85.59°WSuwannee Limestone — 28.50°N, 82.69°WSuwannee Limestone — 28.20°N, 82.18°WSuwannee Limestone — 28.56°N, 82.39°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.28°N, 83.71°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.40°N, 83.17°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.12°N, 83.60°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.38°N, 83.80°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.37°N, 83.94°WSuwannee Limestone — 30.17°N, 83.96°WSuwannee Limestone — 28.90°N, 82.59°WYorktown — 37.22°N, 76.93°WYorktown — 37.23°N, 76.96°WYorktown — 35.38°N, 77.99°WYorktown — 37.17°N, 76.77°WYorktown — 37.25°N, 76.50°WYorktown — 37.06°N, 76.63°WYorktown — 37.15°N, 76.74°WCulebra — 9.05°N, 79.65°WCulebra — 9.76°N, 79.68°WCulebra — 9.03°N, 79.63°WCulebra — 9.13°N, 79.62°WMoneague — 18.32°N, 77.18°WMoneague — 18.33°N, 77.13°WMoneague — 18.37°N, 77.38°WMoneague — 18.08°N, 77.00°WMoneague — 18.03°N, 76.75°WGhibirti — 11.03°N, 51.03°EGhibirti — 10.80°N, 51.05°EGhibirti — 11.00°N, 51.07°ECollazo Shale — 18.34°N, 66.99°WCollazo Shale — 17.97°N, 66.91°WQom — 31.52°N, 52.74°EQom — 32.95°N, 52.14°EQom — 33.78°N, 51.73°EGheldeis — 10.28°N, 50.15°EGheldeis — 9.23°N, 50.67°EGheldeis — 9.60°N, 50.78°EGheldeis — 8.85°N, 49.32°EDubar — 11.24°N, 48.98°EDubar — 11.47°N, 49.87°EChickasawhay — 31.51°N, 87.93°WChickasawhay — 31.72°N, 88.66°WChickasawhay — 31.67°N, 88.64°WLares Limestone — 18.29°N, 66.88°WGatun — 9.27°N, 79.91°WCaimito — 9.21°N, 79.82°WGrand Bay — 12.50°N, 61.42°WGianti — 11.03°N, 51.03°EGianti — 9.48°N, 50.82°ECalvert — 38.64°N, 76.52°WQuebradillas Limestone — 18.50°N, 66.96°WPonce — 18.01°N, 66.61°WManiyara Fort — 23.46°N, 68.60°ENagura Gravel — 24.43°N, 124.23°EAnahuac — 29.28°N, 95.73°WEastover — 37.82°N, 76.75°WCilanang — 7.49°S, 110.00°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Kuphus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 12 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 23 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Kuphus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Kuphus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

838 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 92 sites for Kuphus, and this reads all 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

34 references

Each of the 143 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. 22 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 Kuphus

Source
iDigBio
Credit
via iDigBio
Licence
CC BY-NC
Commercial use
the licence does not allow it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Kuphus polythalamia · MCZ:Mala:386028

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 itKuphinae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Guettard 1770