Mary Anning was an English fossil collector, dealer, and palaeontologist who became known around the world for finds she made in Jurassic marine fossil beds in the cliffs along the English Channel at Lyme Regis in the county of Dorset in Southwest England. Anning's findings contributed to changes in scientific thinking about prehistoric life and the history of the Earth.
Bivalvia, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. Bivalves as a group have no head and they lack some usual molluscan organs like the radula and the odontophore. They include the clams, oysters, cockles, mussels, scallops, and numerous other families that live in saltwater, as well as a number of families that live in freshwater. The majority are filter feeders. The gills have evolved into ctenidia, specialised organs for feeding and breathing. Most bivalves bury themselves in sediment where they are relatively safe from predation. Others lie on the sea floor or attach themselves to rocks or other hard surfaces. Some bivalves, such as the scallops and file shells, can swim. The shipworms bore into wood, clay, or stone and live inside these substances.
Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea, sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typically around 1 mm (0.039 in) in size, but varying from 0.2 to 30 mm in the case of Gigantocypris. Their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like, chitinous or calcareous valve or "shell". The hinge of the two valves is in the upper (dorsal) region of the body. Ostracods are grouped together based on gross morphology. While early work indicated the group may not be monophyletic; and early molecular phylogeny was ambiguous on this front, recent combined analyses of molecular and morphological data found support for monophyly in analyses with broadest taxon sampling.
Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology, palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropology.
The Pteriida are an order of large and medium-sized marine bivalve mollusks. It includes five families, among them the Pteriidae.
Trigoniidae is a taxonomic family of saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks in the superfamily Trigonioidea. There is only one living genus, Neotrigonia, but in the geological past this family was well represented, widespread and common. The shells of species in this family are morphologically unusual, with very elaborate hinge teeth, and the exterior of the shell is highly ornamented.
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda. The members are known as molluscs or mollusks. Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is estimated between 60,000 and 100,000 additional species. The proportion of undescribed species is very high. Many taxa remain poorly studied.
Isognomon is a genus of marine bivalve mollusks which is related to the pearl oysters.
Tommotiids are Cambrian (Terreneuvian) shelly fossils thought to belong to the Brachiopod + Phoronid lineage (Brachiozoa).
Juliidae, common name the bivalved gastropods, is a family of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the superfamily Oxynooidea, an opisthobranch group. These are sacoglossan (sap-sucking) sea snails, and many of them are green in color.
Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from late Albian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.
Elizabeth Philpot (1780–1857) was an early 19th-century British fossil collector, amateur palaeontologist and artist who collected fossils from the cliffs around Lyme Regis in Dorset on the southern coast of England. She is best known today for her collaboration and friendship with the well known fossil hunter Mary Anning. She was well known in geological circles for her knowledge of fossil fish as well as her extensive collection of specimens and was consulted by leading geologists and palaeontologists of the time including William Buckland, and Louis Agassiz. When Mary Anning discovered that belemnite fossils contained ink sacks, it was Philpot who discovered that the fossilised ink could be revivified with water and used for illustrations, which became a common practice for local artists.
Pojetaia is an extinct genus of early bivalves, one of two genera in the extinct family Fordillidae. The genus is known solely from Early to Middle Cambrian fossils found in North America, Greenland, Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Australia. The genus currently contains two accepted species, Pojetaia runnegari, the type species, and Pojetaia sarhroensis, though up to seven species have been proposed. The genera Buluniella, Jellia, and Oryzoconcha are all considered synonyms of Pojetaia.
Camya is an extinct genus of early bivalve and is the only genus in the extinct family Camyidae. The genus is known solely from early Middle Cambrian fossils found in Europe. The genus currently contains a solitary accepted species, Camya asy.
Panenka is a genus of fossil saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Antipleuridae. Like most bivalves, these molluscs were suspension feeders. They lived in the Devonian Period.
Trigonia is an extinct genus of saltwater clams, fossil marine bivalve mollusk in the family Trigoniidae. The fossil range of the genus spans the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Paleocene of the Cenozoic, from 298 to 56 Ma.
Neotrigonia is a genus of living saltwater clams, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Trigoniidae, which otherwise consists only of fossil genera. For a long time the entire family was thought to be long extinct, but a living species that is now placed in this genus was discovered in 1802. At that time it was assigned to the fossil genus Trigonia. Currently, according to the World Register of Marine Species, 8 species in this genus are recognized.
Neotrigonia margaritacea, common name the pearly brooch-shell, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Trigoniidae. This species is known from sandy substrates in shallow seas in southeastern and southwestern Australia. This species was the first member of the family to be discovered alive; previous to its discovery, trigoniids were only known from fossils.
Actinoceramus is an extinct genus of fossil saltwater clams, marine pteriomorphian bivalve molluscs. These bivalves were facultatively mobile infaunal suspension feeders.
Pterioidea is a superfamily of epifaunal marine bivalves mostly inhabiting continental shelf regions of tropical and subtropical oceans. The superfamily includes the economically-important saltwater pearl oysters as well as the oddly shaped hammer oysters. A number of species have found use as model organisms in the fields of medicine and science.
