Megalodon is an extinct genus of bivalve molluscs that reportedly lived from the Devonian to the Jurassic period.[1] It is not clear, however, that all the fossils assigned to Megalodon from that span of time really belong in the same genus. Jurassic relatives of Megalodon such as Pachyrisma grande were closely related to the rudists.[2]

Megalodon
Temporal range: Early DevonianEarly Jurassic ~412–182 Ma
Fossil of Megalodon
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Megalodontida
Superfamily: Megalodontoidea
Family: Megalodontidae
Genus: Megalodon
Sowerby, 1827
Species

See text.

Species

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[1]

Distribution

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Fossils of the bivalve Megalodon have been found in:[1]

Devonian
  • Austria, Canada (Alberta), Germany, and Italy
Permian
  • China and Malaysia
Triassic
  • Bulgaria, Colombia, Hungary, Italy, Serbia and Montenegro and the United Arab Emirates
Jurassic
  • Italy and Morocco

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Megalodon". The Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  2. ^ Skelton, Peter W. & Smith, Andrew B. (2000). "Preliminary phylogeny for rudist bivalves: sifting clades from grades". In Harper, E. M.; Taylor, J. D. & Crame, J. A. (eds.). Evolutionary Biology of the Bivalvia. Vol. Special Publication No. 177. Bath, UK: Geological Society. pp. 97–127. ISBN 1-86239-076-2.