Hyotissa semiplana

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Hyotissa semiplana
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous
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Gryphaeidae - Hyotissa semiplana.JPG
Fossil shells of Hyotissa semiplana from Maastrichtian age, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Ostreida
Family: Gryphaeidae
Genus: Hyotissa
Species:
H. semiplana
Binomial name
Hyotissa semiplana
(de Sowerby, 1825)
Synonyms
  • Pycnodonte semiplana

Hyotissa semiplana is an extinct species of large saltwater oysters, a fossil marine bivalve mollusk in the family Gryphaeidae, the foam oysters [1]

In biology, a species ( ) is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. While these definitions may seem adequate, when looked at more closely they represent problematic species concepts. For example, the boundaries between closely related species become unclear with hybridisation, in a species complex of hundreds of similar microspecies, and in a ring species. Also, among organisms that reproduce only asexually, the concept of a reproductive species breaks down, and each clone is potentially a microspecies.

Contents

Description

Fossil shells of Hyotissa semiplana can reach a diameter of about 60 millimetres (2.4 in). [2] They have thick-walled valves, with rough, nodose surface. [3] [4]

Distribution

Fossils of this species have been found in the Campanian-Maestrichtian of Poland, in the Santonian-Maestrichtian of Europe and North Africa and in the Campanian of South India. [3] [5]

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