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

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

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

Description

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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

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

Species

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

References

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  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