Brachiopod Conglomerate Panel

$272.00

Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple opening and closing muscles, while inarticulate brachiopods have untoothed hinges and a more complex system of muscles used to keep the two valves aligned.

Description

Brachiopod Conglomerate Panel is made of polyurethane and is museum quality. The Brachiopod Conglomerate Panel measures 26 inches long and is an Invertebrate of Devonian Ohio. Our precise plant fossils can be used as a teaching tool for Paleobotany, museum exhibits, home décor or office décor.

Brachiopods, phylum Brachiopoda, are a group of lophotrochozoan animals that have hard shells on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection.

Two major groups are recognized, articulate and inarticulate. The word “articulate” is used to describe the tooth-and-groove features of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic feature by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished.

Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple opening and closing muscles, while inarticulate brachiopods have untoothed hinges and a more complex system of muscles used to keep the two valves aligned.

In a typical brachiopod a stalk-like pedicle projects from an opening in one of the valves near the hinges, known as the pedicle valve, keeping the animal anchored to the seabed but clear of silt that would obstruct the opening.

The word brachiopod is formed from the Ancient Greek words brachion (“arm”) and podos (“foot”). They are often known as “lamp shells”, since the curved shells of the class Terebratulida resemble pottery oil-lamps.

Brachiopods lifespans range from three to over thirty years. Ripe gametes (ova or sperm) float from the gonads into the main coelom and then exit into the mantle cavity. The larvae of inarticulate brachiopods are miniature adults, with lophophores that enable the larvae to feed and swim for months until the animals become heavy enough to settle to the seabed.

The planktonic larvae of articulate species do not resemble the adults, but rather look like blobs with yolk sacs, and remain among the plankton for only a few days before leaving the water column upon metamorphosing.

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Additional information

Weight 6 lbs
Dimensions 26 in
Brachiopod Facts:

Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Superphylum: Lophotrochozoa
Clade: Lophophorata
Clade: Brachiozoa
Phylum: Brachiopoda