Myophorella lusitanica (bivalve)

Myophorella lusitanica belongs to the Trigoniacea, a group of bivalves common in warm shallow seas of the Mesozoic era.

The Trigoniacea are represented today by the ‘living-fossil’ Neotrigonia found exclusively in coastal waters of Australia.

By studying such living-fossils we can make inferences about their extinct relatives.

Myophorella lusitanica (Sharpe, 1849) was discovered in Portugal and dated to the Late Kimmeridgian to Early Tithonian (Late Jurassic) eras.

The bivalve was discovered by the English amateur geologist Daniel Sharpe (1806-1856).

At the time Sharpe was a merchant living in Portugal. He was elected President of the Geological Society of London in 1856.

Sharpe’s collection is now held in the Department of Palaeontology in the Museum.

Taxonomy

Discover the groups and relationships that Myophorella lusitanica is a part of and find out more about its size, shape and surface.
Distribution

Learn where Myophorella lusitanica fossils are most commonly found and about finds in new areas as a result of recent research.
Biology and ecology

Myophorella lusitanica would have lived in burrows just below the surface of the sand or mud. Learn more about the conditions that Myophorella lusitanica would have lived in, as well as its feeding patterns and how it protected itself from predators.
References

Further reading material for Myophorella lusitanica.