| P number: | P549533 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Torquirhynchia inconstans, a Jurassic brachiopod. Specimen MGS 649a. |
| Description: | Torquirhynchia inconstans is a brachipod that lived during the late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) times. It is particularly common in one part of the Kimmeridgian and gives its name to a marker bed which accumulated about 153 million years ago. Torquirhynchia inconstans has a very swollen shell, both valves being particularly convex. Its larger pedicle valve has an umbo (the pointed 'beak' at the top of the illustrated specimen) that is coiled over the top of the smaller brachial valve. The pedicle is a fleshy stalk extending from the small opening near the umbone and was used to attach the shell to the substrate. Ribs radiate out from the area of the umbo. Brachiopods have a very long history. The oldest species lived during the earliest Cambrian time (545 million years ago) although strange animals that look like worms, but with a brachiopod-like shells each end suggest they evolved during the late Precambrian. They were particularly commmon during the Palaeozoic times (248 to 545 million years ago), but today they are rather rare. These animals are almost entirely marine, although some live in brackish waters. They have a shell usually attached to a firm substrate like a rock, by a pedicle, a fleshy stalk that extends out of an opening in one of the valves (the pedicle valve). The two valves are hinged so that they can be opened to allow water and food particles to wash through. Calcareous supports for the internal organs are sometimes preserved in fossils. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 264.81 KB; 1000 x 996 pixels; 85 x 84 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 264 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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