Texigryphaea
Extinct genus of oyster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
_(Walnut_Formation,_Lower_Cretaceous;_Bell_County,_Texas,_USA)_3.jpg)
| Texigryphaea | |
|---|---|
| |
| Texigryphaea mucronata from the Walnut Formation, Lower Cretaceous of Bell County, Texas | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Ostreida |
| Family: | Gryphaeidae |
| Subfamily: | Pycnodonteinae |
| Genus: | †Texigryphaea Stenzel, 1959 |
| Species[1][2] | |
|
About 11 species, see text | |
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]
Selected species
- Texigryphaea belvederensis (Hill & Vaughan 1898)
- Texigryphaea corrugata (Say, 1823)
- Texigryphaea gibberosa (Cragin, 1893)
- Texigryphaea graysonana (Stanton, 1947)
- Texigryphaea hilli (Cragin, 1891)
- Texigryphaea marcoui (Hill and Vaughan, 1898)
- Texigryphaea mucronata (Gabb, 1869)
- Texigryphaea navia (Hall, 1856)
- Texigryphaea pitcheri (Morton, 1834)
- Texigryphaea roemeri (Marcou, 1862)
- Texigryphaea washitaensis (Hill and Vaughan, 1898)
