Macoma nasuta

Macoma nasuta, commonly known as the bent-nosed clam, is a species of bivalve found along the Pacific Ocean coast of North America. It is about 6 cm (2.4 in) long. It is often found buried in sands of 10–20 cm (3.9–7.9 in) in depth. This rounded clam has no radial ribs. Archaeological data supports the use of this species by Native Americans such as the Chumash peoples of central California.

Macoma nasuta

Charles Howard Edmondson · 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
Also called
bent-nose clamPBDB
Sits inside
MacomaPBDB
Diet
deposit feederPBDB, for Tellinidae
Life habit
infaunalPBDB, for Tellinidae
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB, for Tellinidae
Vision
blindPBDB, for Bivalvia

Time the record covers

At least 33 million years on record.

The record covers at least 33.9 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 37.71 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Eocene — about 1 of 137 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 6 of 137 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 46 of 137 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 19 of 137 occurrencesPleistocene — about 65 of 137 occurrences38–37 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences37–36 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences36–35 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences35–33 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences33–32 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences32–31 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences31–29 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences29–28 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences26–24 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 4 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 4 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 4 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 4 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 4 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences12–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.0 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.0–7.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.7–6.4 Mya — about 9 occurrences6.4–5.1 Mya — about 12 occurrences5.1–3.8 Mya — about 9 occurrences3.8–2.6 Mya — about 8 occurrences2.6–1.3 Mya — about 9 occurrences1.3–0 Mya — about 56 occurrences33.9 Mya129 ka38.5 Mya0 Mya

137 occurrences of Macoma nasuta 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

137 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

30 formations

Vaqueros — 34.04°N, 120.04°WVaqueros — 33.54°N, 117.78°WVaqueros — 33.68°N, 117.76°WVaqueros — 33.65°N, 117.81°WVaqueros — 34.33°N, 118.83°WVaqueros — 34.33°N, 119.03°WVaqueros — 34.07°N, 119.66°WVaqueros — 34.04°N, 118.88°WVaqueros — 34.37°N, 118.82°WVaqueros — 34.32°N, 119.08°WVaqueros — 34.35°N, 118.92°WVaqueros — 34.45°N, 118.92°WVaqueros — 34.98°N, 120.21°WVaqueros — 35.82°N, 121.06°WVaqueros — 36.18°N, 121.31°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.80°N, 118.16°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.88°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.71°N, 118.27°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.66°N, 117.94°WPancho Rico — 36.18°N, 121.18°WPancho Rico — 35.89°N, 121.05°WPancho Rico — 35.90°N, 120.84°WPancho Rico — 35.99°N, 120.91°WPancho Rico — 36.00°N, 120.45°WPancho Rico — 35.74°N, 120.83°WPancho Rico — 35.99°N, 120.79°WPancho Rico — 35.94°N, 120.68°WPancho Rico — 35.97°N, 120.73°WPancho Rico — 35.89°N, 120.56°WSisquoc — 34.81°N, 120.22°WSisquoc — 34.90°N, 120.31°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.82°N, 120.45°WCareaga Sandstone — 34.88°N, 120.51°WPico — 34.37°N, 118.56°WPico — 34.35°N, 118.52°WSan Pedro Sand — 33.74°N, 118.28°WJacalitos — 36.09°N, 120.41°WJacalitos — 36.04°N, 120.39°WJacalitos — 36.06°N, 120.45°WPleito — 34.99°N, 119.19°WTemblor — 35.95°N, 120.25°WTemblor — 36.34°N, 120.36°WMerced — 43.39°N, 124.28°WMerced — 37.39°N, 122.17°WHookton — 40.98°N, 124.11°WEtchegoin — 36.28°N, 120.30°WEtchegoin — 36.18°N, 120.64°WPalos Verdes — 33.63°N, 117.90°WLate Pleistocene terrace — 46.37°N, 123.96°WYsidro — 24.58°N, 112.00°WRincon — 34.74°N, 120.31°WSaanich — 47.58°N, 122.42°WElk River — 42.74°N, 124.49°WSan Emigdio — 35.06°N, 119.18°WBattery — 41.76°N, 124.20°WWildcat — 40.64°N, 124.31°WTowsley — 34.36°N, 118.51°WSan Diego — 32.49°N, 117.12°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Macoma nasuta has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 30 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Macoma nasuta and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Macoma nasuta and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,418 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 117 sites for Macoma nasuta, and this reads all 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

44 references

Each of the 137 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. 32 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 Macoma nasuta

Credit
Charles Howard Edmondson
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Macoma nasuta was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itMacoma through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Conrad 1837)