Rafinesquina

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Not to be confused with Rafinesquia.

Rafinesquina
Temporal range: Darriwilian–Ludlow
Rafinesquina ponderosa from the Excello South Outcrop near the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tristate area
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Brachiopoda
Class: †Strophomenata
Order: †Strophomenida
Family: †Rafinesquinidae
Subfamily: †Rafinesquininae
Genus: †Rafinesquina
Clarke and Hall, 1892
Type species
Leptaena alternata
Conrad, 1838
Species

See Species

Rafinesquina is an extinct genus of large brachiopod that existed from the Darriwilian to the Ludlow epoch.[1]

The genus was named in honor of polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz.[2]

Description[edit]

Rafinesquina's members were epifaunal, meaning they lived on top of the seafloor, not buried within it, and were suspension feeders.[3] Rafinesquina normally have a concavo-convex profile, with radiating striae of alternating size which are crossed with finer concentric striae.[3] Their width is usually greater than their length, like most Strophomenids. Members of this genus had shells that grew in increments, with each increment forming a layer of the shell (much like trees do with their rings). In 1982, Gary D. Rosenberg analyzed specimens of Rafinesquina alternata previously inferred to have lived in a shallow subtidal environment and proposed it could be possible to estimate the total number of days in a lunar month (the period between full moons) during the Late Ordovician using layer counting.[4]

Distribution[edit]

Rafinesquina specimens had a cosmopolitan distribution, and their fossils can be found in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.[1][5][6][7]

Species[edit]

Species in the genus Rafinesquina include:[6][7][8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Colmenar, Jorge (2016). "Ordovician rafinesquinine brachiopods from peri-Gondwana" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 61 (2): 293–326. doi:10.4202/app.00102.2014. S2CID 54862401. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  2. ^ Thompson, Ida (September 1982). National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fossils. New York: Alfred a Knopf Inc. pp. 650–651. ISBN 978-0-394-52412-2.
  3. ^ a b Stigall, Alycia (16 October 2013). "Rafinesquina". Atlas of Ordovician Life. National Science Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  4. ^ Rosenberg, Gary (1982). "Growth rhythms in the brachiopod Rafinesquina alternata from the Late Ordovician of southeastern Indiana". Paleobiology. 8 (4): 389–401. Bibcode:1982Pbio....8..389R. doi:10.1017/S0094837300007132. S2CID 131583623. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  5. ^ Global Biodiversity Information Facility
  6. ^ a b Paleobiology Database
  7. ^ a b Fossilworks
  8. ^ Catalog of Life


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