Ostracoda

Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea, sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 33,000 species have been identified, grouped into 7 valid orders. They are small crustaceans, typically around 1 mm (0.04 in) in size, but varying from 0.2 to 32 mm, the latter in the case of the marine Gigantocypris. The largest known freshwater species is Megalocypris princeps, which reach 8 mm in length. In most cases, their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like valve or "shell" made of chitin, and often calcium carbonate. The family Entocytheridae and many planktonic forms do not have calcium carbonate. The hinge of the two valves is in the upper (dorsal) region of the body. Ostracods are grouped together based on shell and soft part morphology, and molecular studies have not unequivocally supported the group's monophyly. They have a wide range of diets, and the class includes carnivores, herbivores, scavengers and filter feeders, but most ostracods are deposit feeders.

Ostracoda

Anna33 at English Wikipedia · CC BY 2.5 · 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
ostracodPBDB
Sits inside
OligostracaPBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Vision
limitedPBDB
Environment
marinePBDB

Time the record covers

At least 520 million years on record.

The record covers at least 521 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 530.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Cambrian — about 13 of 12000 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 2495 of 12000 occurrencesSilurian — about 1468 of 12000 occurrencesDevonian — about 1749 of 12000 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 700 of 12000 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 727 of 12000 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 102 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 129 of 12000 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 91 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 1098 of 12000 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 416 of 12000 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 122 of 12000 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 467 of 12000 occurrencesLate Cretaceous — about 354 of 12000 occurrencesPaleocene — about 174 of 12000 occurrencesEocene — about 441 of 12000 occurrencesOligocene — about 276 of 12000 occurrencesMiocene — about 769 of 12000 occurrencesPliocene — about 185 of 12000 occurrencesPleistocene — about 183 of 12000 occurrences541–523 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences523–505 Mya — about 4 occurrences505–487 Mya — about 8 occurrences487–469 Mya — about 87 occurrences469–451 Mya — about 1786 occurrences451–433 Mya — about 1068 occurrences433–415 Mya — about 1191 occurrences415–397 Mya — about 365 occurrences397–379 Mya — about 739 occurrences379–361 Mya — about 457 occurrences361–343 Mya — about 206 occurrences343–325 Mya — about 400 occurrences325–307 Mya — about 95 occurrences307–289 Mya — about 72 occurrences289–271 Mya — about 33 occurrences271–253 Mya — about 597 occurrences253–235 Mya — about 298 occurrences235–217 Mya — about 41 occurrences217–198 Mya — about 72 occurrences198–180 Mya — about 565 occurrences180–162 Mya — about 888 occurrences162–144 Mya — about 137 occurrences144–126 Mya — about 133 occurrences126–108 Mya — about 210 occurrences108–90 Mya — about 160 occurrences90–72 Mya — about 249 occurrences72–54 Mya — about 261 occurrences54–36 Mya — about 328 occurrences36–18 Mya — about 607 occurrences18–0 Mya — about 942 occurrences521 Mya11.7 ka541 Mya0 Mya

12,000+ occurrences of Ostracoda on record. 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

12,000 occurrences read

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. The read hit its cap, so every figure above is a floor and the shares are of the occurrences read. More on what this infers.

Found in

at least 882 formations

Jurensismergel — 47.95°N, 7.82°EMoscow — 42.70°N, 76.75°WMoscow — 42.72°N, 78.97°WMoscow — 42.78°N, 78.85°WMoscow — 42.87°N, 78.83°WMoscow — 42.90°N, 78.45°WMoscow — 43.00°N, 78.30°WMoscow — 42.88°N, 78.03°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.88°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 77.77°WNaujoji Akmené — 54.77°N, 24.23°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.82°N, 23.93°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.48°N, 24.62°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.67°N, 24.25°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.25°N, 25.62°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.72°N, 23.07°ENaujoji Akmené — 56.00°N, 23.67°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.93°N, 23.28°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.42°N, 22.78°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.78°N, 21.83°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.67°N, 21.75°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.75°N, 22.50°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.52°N, 24.13°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.55°N, 22.80°ENaujoji Akmené — 54.67°N, 24.17°ENaujoji Akmené — 55.25°N, 22.27°EDecorah Shale — 44.00°N, 92.00°WDecorah Shale — 46.00°N, 94.00°WBlacourt — 50.83°N, 1.77°EDunleith — 42.00°N, 94.00°WKhuff — 21.04°N, 57.69°ESecond Abden Shale — 56.07°N, 3.17°WIon — 42.00°N, 94.00°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WYazoo — 31.92°N, 88.40°WBrian de Vère — 44.07°N, 1.74°EBeacon Limestone — 50.94°N, 2.85°WBeacon Limestone — 50.94°N, 2.85°WShanda Horizon — 54.28°N, 85.93°ELa Rosa — 10.45°N, 71.02°WLa Rosa — 10.40°N, 71.10°WLa Rosa — 10.45°N, 71.20°WLa Rosa — 10.57°N, 71.15°WLa Rosa — 10.52°N, 71.22°WLa Rosa — 10.40°N, 70.80°WTonoloway Limstone — 39.63°N, 78.23°WTonoloway Limstone — 39.57°N, 78.84°WTonoloway Limstone — 39.40°N, 78.84°WTonoloway Limstone — 39.44°N, 78.97°WTonoloway Limstone — 38.27°N, 79.88°WDhruma — 24.23°N, 46.58°EDhruma — 26.25°N, 44.82°EDhruma — 23.97°N, 45.17°EDhruma — 23.53°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 25.50°N, 45.00°EDhruma — 23.97°N, 46.17°EDhruma — 21.88°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 22.45°N, 46.00°EDhruma — 24.75°N, 46.08°EDhruma — 22.83°N, 46.83°EDhruma — 22.17°N, 46.83°EDhruma — 25.05°N, 45.67°EDhruma — 25.70°N, 45.67°EVale das Fontes — 40.03°N, 8.47°WSanta Marta — 64.35°S, 57.40°Wfahdène — 36.57°N, 8.77°EBellerophon — 46.57°N, 11.63°ETubará — 10.87°N, 74.98°WDalby — 57.00°N, 17.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 15.00°EDalby — 61.00°N, 15.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 14.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 12.00°EPamucak — 36.69°N, 30.46°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ostracoda has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. The read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 858 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 2,229 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

2,197 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 790 sites for Ostracoda, 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

at least 772 references

Each of the 12,000 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. That read hit its cap, so each count is a floor. 760 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 Ostracoda

Credit
Anna33 at English Wikipedia
Licence
CC BY 2.5
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

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 itOligostraca through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Latreille 1802)