Rafinesquina is an extinct genus of large brachiopod that existed from the Darriwilian to the Ludlow epoch.[1]
| Rafinesquina Temporal range:
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_(Grant_Lake_Formation,_Upper_Ordovician;_south_of_Excello,_Ohio,_USA)_1_(49710941141).jpg)
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| Rafinesquina ponderosa from the Excello South Outcrop near the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tristate area | |
Scientific classification 
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| 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
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| Species | |
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See Species | |
The genus was named in honor of polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque-Schmaltz.[2]
Description edit
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 edit
Rafinesquina specimens had a cosmopolitan distribution, and their fossils can be found in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.[1][5][6][7]
Species edit
Species in the genus Rafinesquina include:[6][7][8]
- R. alternata (Conrad, 1838)
- R. declivis (James, 1874)
- R. delicata Williams, 1974
- R. deltoidea (Conrad, 1838)
- R. insidiosa Williams, 1962
- R. jeffersonensis Bradley, 1930
- R. latisculptilus (Savage, 1913)
- R. lignani Vilas, 1985
- R. mesicosta Shumard, 1860
- R. mucronata Foerste, 1914
- R. nasuta (Emmons, 1842)
- R. oanduensis Oraspold, 1956
- R. orvikui Oraspold, 1956
- R. percensis Cooper and Kindle, 1936
- R. planulata Cooper, 1956
- R. ponderosa Hayes and Ulrich, 1903
- R. pseudoloricata (Barrande, 1848)
- R. relicula Benedetto, 1995
- R. stropheodontoides (Savage, 1913)
- R. trentonensis (Hall, 1847)
- R. ultrix Marek and Havlíček, 1967
- R. urbicola Marek and Havlíček, 1967
References edit
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Stigall, Alycia (16 October 2013). "Rafinesquina". Atlas of Ordovician Life. National Science Foundation. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- ^ a b Paleobiology Database
- ^ a b Fossilworks
- ^ Catalog of Life
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