Gryphaea arcuata is an extinct species of foam oyster, a bivalve mollusc in the family Gryphaeidae from the Early Jurassic of Europe.
Gryphaea arcuata Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Bivalvia |
Order: | Ostreida |
Family: | Gryphaeidae |
Genus: | †Gryphaea |
Species: | †G. arcuata
|
Binomial name | |
†Gryphaea arcuata Lamarck, 1801
|
It is commonly referred to in English folklore as the 'devils toenail' due to its supposed resemblance to the devil's 'cloven hoof'.
Sources
edit- Gryphaea arcuata Archived 2012-03-13 at the Wayback Machine in the Paleobiology Database
- Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 101)