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Radiolitidae

Radiolitidae

Overview

Radiolitidae Gray, 1848

Common Name: Rudist Bivalves

Extant/Extinct

Key morphological features: Half the shell has a cone shape (right valve), while the other half acts as a lid for the top (left valve). This family of rudists have a larger diversity of shapes including box, tube, and ring shapes. They became so abundant during the Cretaceous, they built reef-like structures. Rudists became extinct at the end-Cretaceous K-T mass extinction.

        SIZE:

Paleoecology:

        MOBILITY: Stationary

        FEEDING MODE: Suspension Feeder

        HABITAT: Semi-infaunal

Sources:

Cox, L. R. et al. 1969. Bivalvia, in R. C. Moore ed., Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part N, Mollusca 6, Volume 2. The University of Kansas and Geological Society of America. 1224 pp.


Genera of Radiolitidae present in the Cretaceous of the Western Interior Seaway