| P number: | P549451 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Mytiloides mytiloides, a fossil bivalve. |
| Description: | One of the important applications of fossils is in dating and correlating the rocks in two or more geographically separate localities. Mytiloides mytiloides is useful in this respect as it only occurs at the base of the Turonian (about 92 million years ago). Whenever it is found, whether in Dorset or Lincolnshire, the age of the rock will always be basal Turonian. Mytiloides mytiloides (sometimes called M. labiatus) is an elongate species, with two nearly equal valves which are obliquely inclined. Its hinge is straight. The surface of the valves have concentric ribs and it has fine growth lines. Bivalves are molluscs that first evolved over 500 million years ago during the middle of the Cambrian period. They flourished during the Mesozoic (particularly the Jurassic and Cretaceous) and in the Cainozoic eras. They are abundant in the modern seas and dead shells are often found in the beach sands around the world. The early bivalves are associated with marine palaeoenvironments, but they later colonised brackish and fresh waters. As they are so common in modern times, their mode of life can be extrapolated back into the geological past and used in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Portrait |
| Size: | 411.93 KB; 632 x 1000 pixels; 54 x 85 mm (print at 300 DPI); 167 x 265 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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