| P number: | P549458 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Pecten, a fossil bivalve. |
| Description: | Pecten has a very characteristic shell that has been used as the logo of a famous oil company. It evolved in the Eocene times and is still living in shallow seas today. It can move rapidly by clapping its valves together producing a jet of water that propels it along. The shell of Pecten is very symmetrical, and often it is only the wing-like extensions that form the hinge each side of the umbone that are asymmetrical. One valve is convex whereas the other is generally flat. Its broad, radial ribs with flattened and grooved tops are a characteristic of the genus. Bivalves are molluscs that first evolved over 500 million years ago during the middle of the Cambrian period. They flourished during the Mesozoic (particularly the Jurassic and Cretaceous) and in the Cainozoic eras. They are abundant in the modern seas and dead shells are often found in the beach sands around the world. The early bivalves are associated with marine palaeoenvironments, but they later colonised brackish and fresh waters. As they are so common in modern times, their mode of life can be extrapolated back into the geological past and used in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 549.01 KB; 1000 x 826 pixels; 85 x 70 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 219 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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