Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
312 / Paleozoic
Paraspirifer
Paraspirifer bownockeri
A broad hinge line formed stone wings that stabilized the shell on soft mud.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 390 million years ago
- Final stage
- Middle Devonian
- Geographic range
- Warm shallow mud · Ohio, USA
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Paraspirifer?
Paraspirifer (Paraspirifer bownockeri) was an extinct organism known from About 390 million years ago, with a range in Warm shallow mud · Ohio, USA.
Life and ecology
This large spiriferid brachiopod directed water through its folded shell and lophophore.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Paraspirifer disappear?
Local changes in sea level and sediment are possible context for the end of this assemblage; a specific cause is not established.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Paraspirifer?
Paired valves and internal spiral supports preserve its feeding geometry.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS