Teredina is an extinct genus of fossil bivalve mollusc that lived from the Late Cretaceous to the late Pliocene in Asia, Europe, and North America.[2]

Teredina
Temporal range: Late Cretaceous – late Pliocene
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Myida
Family: Teredinidae
Genus: Teredina
Lamarck, 1818
Species[1]

Teredina shells consist of 2 short, hooked valves with a pair of furrows and each valve with transverse ridges.[3] The overall body was long and clud-shaped. Teredina used the ridges on each valve to bore into driftwood 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.[3] Petrified drift wood with Teridina burrows can be found in the Cretaceous rocks of Vancouver Island.[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ MolluscaBase eds. (2024). MolluscaBase. Teredina Lamarck, 1818 †. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1562755 on 18 July 2024
  2. ^ Teredina in the Paleobiology Database
  3. ^ a b c Ludvigsen, Rolf & Beard, Graham. 1997. West Coast Fossils: A Guide to the Ancient Life of Vancouver Island. pg. 107
  • Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 111)