Spiriferinida

Spiriferinida Temporal range: Early Devonian–Early Jurassic PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Liospiriferina rostrata, a Liassic spiriferinide brachiopod from France. The open shell allows noticing the spiralium
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Brachiopoda
Class:	Rhynchonellata
Order:	† Spiriferinida Ivanova, 1972

Spiriferinida is an extinct brachiopod order, known from the Devonian to the Jurassic.

Description

The order Spiriferinida belongs to the subphylum Rhynchonelliformea, approximately corresponding to the former subphylum Articulata (articulate brachiopods) characterised by calcareous shell with teeth and sockets, and to the class Rhynchonellata defined on the basis of the shell microstructure. ^{[1] [2]}

The spiriferinides are characterised by a spiralium (skeleton of the lophophore) that is oriented laterally or postero-laterally, the presence of a jugum (an element of the skeleton linking two spiralian cones), and a punctate shell. ^[3] The two latter characters allow the distinction between the orders Spiriferinida and Spiriferida (the latter having and impunctate shell and no jugum); these orders were merged in older brachiopod systems. ^[4]

The order Spiriferinida is divided into two suborders:

• Cyrtinidina Carter & Johnson, 1994 (Lower Devonian to Lower Jurassic), characterised by ventral valves with complex structures serving for the attachment of adductor muscles; ^{[5] [3]}
• Spiriferinidina Ivanova, 1972 (Upper Devonian to Lower Jurassic), with ventral valves lacking such structures. ^[3]

Distribution and examples

Cyrtina is the oldest spiriferinide genus ^[3] and among the best known representatives of the order. It is known from the Lower Devonian (Lochkovian) to the Carboniferous from many places in the world. ^{[3] [6] [7] [8]} More than a hundred species of Cyrtina have been described. ^[9]

In the Early Jurassic there were species with strongly costate shells (genus Spiriferina ), finely costate shells (genus Callospiriferina), and smooth shells (genus Liospiriferina). ^{[10] [11]} The last spiriferinides are known from the Toarcian. ^[12]

• 
  Cyrtina multiplicata (Givetian, Spain), articulated shell in dorsal view
• 
  An oblique view, showing the dorsal valve and the interarea with the delthyrium
• 
  A lateral view, dorsal valve on the bottom, ventral valce on the top
• 
  Syringothyris texta (Carboniferous, Ohio)
• 
  Liospiriferina rostrata (Lias, Spain)

Notes

1. Williams, Alwyn; Carlson, Sandra J.; Brunton, C. Howard C.; Holmer, Lars E.; Popov, Leonid (January 1997). "A supra-ordinal classification of the Brachiopoda". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences. 351 (1344): 1171–1193. doi:10.1098/rstb.1996.0101.
2. Ivanova, E. A. (1972). "Osnovnye zakonomernosti evolûcii spiriferid (Brachiopoda)". Paleontologičeskij žurnal. 1972: 28–42.
3. Carter, J.L. & Johnson, J.G. (2006) Spiriferinida, [In:] Roger L. Kaesler (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part H, Brachiopoda, Revised. Volume 5: Rhynchonelliformea (part), Boulder, Colorado–Lawrence, Kansas: Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, pp. 1877–1937.
4. Moore, Raymond C., ed. (1965). Treatise on invertebrate paleontology : pt. H Brachiopoda. Internet Archive. Boulder, CO : Geological Society of America ; Lawrence, KS : University of Kansas. ISBN   978-0-8137-3008-0.
5. Carter, J. L.; Johnson, J. G.; Hou, H.-F. (1994). "A revised classification of the spiriferid brachiopods". Annals of Carnegie Museum. 63 (4): 327–374.
6. Mergl, Michal (2023-04-16). "The Earliest Cyrtina (Brachiopoda, Cyrtinidina) in the Devonian of the Barrandian (Czech Republic)". Folia Musei rerum naturalium Bohemiae occidentalis. Geologica et Paleobiologica. 56 (1–2): 1–10. doi:10.2478/fbgp-2022-0001.
7. Ehlers, G. M.; Wright, Jean D. (Jean Davies) (1975). "New Species of the Brachiopod Cyrtina from the Middle Devonian Hamilton Strata of Southwestern Ontario". University of Michigan Papers on Paleontology. 24 (14): 149–162.
8. Halamski, Adam T.; Baliński, Andrzej (2013). "Middle Devonian brachiopods from the southern Maїder (eastern Anti-Atlas, Morocco)". Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae. 83 (4): 243–307.
9. Jansen, Ulrich (2025-03-01). "A new species of Cyrtina from the upper Emsian (Brachiopoda, Lower Devonian) of the Rhenish Massif (Germany)". Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments. 105 (1): 217–227. doi:10.1007/s12549-025-00646-5. ISSN   1867-1608.
10. Alméras, Yves; Cougnon, Michel (2013). "Les Spiriférines (Brachiopodes) liasiques de Vendée (France) : différentes espèces, évolution et paléoenvironnements". Le Naturaliste Vendéen. 11: 3–21.
11. Comas-Rengifo, María José; García Joral, Fernando; Goy, A. (2006). "Spiriferinida (Brachiopoda) del Jurásico Inferior del NE y N de España: distribución y extinción durante el evento anóxico oceánico del Toarciense inferior". Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. (Sec. Geol.). 101 (1–4): 147–157. ISSN   0583-7510.
12. Vörös, Attila; Kocsis, Ádám T.; Pálfy, József (2016-09-01). "Demise of the last two spire-bearing brachiopod orders (Spiriferinida and Athyridida) at the Toarcian (Early Jurassic) extinction event". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 457: 233–241. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2016.06.022. ISSN   0031-0182.