Radiolitidae
- Phylum: Mollusca
- Class: Bivalvia
- Order: Hippuritida
- Family: 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.
