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Gryphea dilatata, common name "devil's toenail"[1] is a species of Jurassic oyster, an extinct marine bivalve mollusc in the family Gryphaeidae.
| Gryphaea dilatata Temporal range:
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|---|---|
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| Gryphaea dilatata, 8½cm high | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Ostreida |
| Family: | Gryphaeidae |
| Genus: | †Gryphaea |
| Species: | †G. dilatata
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| Binomial name | |
| †Gryphaea dilatata J. Sowerby, 1818
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This fossil oyster is frequently found in abundance in the localities where it occurs. It belongs to the Oxfordian and Kimmeridgian clays of the Jurassic and can grow to a diameter in excess of 15 centimetres (5.9 in).
It lived a sedentary life-style, settled on the sea bed and was a filter feeder. Its abundance at certain localities — such as Furzy Cliff, Weymouth, Dorset, (England) — suggests it often formed large beds of hundreds of individuals.
It is closely related to the similar species Gryphaea dilobotes.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/piclib/www/image.php?img=59494. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
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