Teredina
| Teredina Temporal range: 93.6–3.6 Ma Late Cretaceous - late Pliocene | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Subclass: | Heterodonta |
| Order: | Myoida |
| Genus: | Teredina |
Teredina is an extinct genus of fossil bivalve mollusks that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the late Pliocene in Asia, Europe, and North America.[1]
Teredina shells consist of 2 short, hooked valves with a pair of furrows and each valve with transverse ridges.[2] The overall body was long and clud-shaped. Teredina used the ridges on each valve to bore into drift wood by rocking back and forth; its long body shape allowed for large intestines for it to carry bacteria capable of breaking down the cellulose in the wood. [2]Petrified drift wood with Teridina burrows can be found in the Cretaceous rocks of Vancouver Island.[2]
References
- Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 111)
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