| Texigryphaea | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Texigryphaea mucronata from the Walnut Formation, Lower Cretaceous of Bell County, Texas | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Ostreida |
| Family: | Gryphaeidae |
| Subfamily: | Pycnodonteinae |
| Genus: | † Texigryphaea Stenzel, 1959 |
| Species [1] [2] | |
About 11 species, see text | |
Texigryphaea is an extinct genus of oyster belonging to the order Ostreida and family Gryphaeidae. [3] It dates to the Albian to Cenomanian Ages of the Cretaceous period and is primarily found in Texas and the southern Western Interior of North America. [1] However, specimens have been identified from northern Spain. [4]
The genus were free-living benthic oysters that were often the dominant species in late Albian biomes of the Western Interior Seaway. [1] Some limestone beds of the Muleros Formation near El Paso, Texas, consist almost entirely of fossil fragments of T. washitaensis. [2] Most species preferred soft substrates in quiet environments, but T. navia was adapted to firmer substrates in more energetic environments. [1] The genus differs from Jurassic Gryphaeidae in possessing a vesicular shell structure and chomata (a fine set of parallel ribs found on the inner valves). [4]
T. tucumcarii is considered to be a synonym for T. pitcheri. [1]
