Caritodens

Classification
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Bivalvia
Order: Pterioida
Family: Pterineidae
Genus: Caritodens Goldfuss, 1826
Cincinnatian Species: Caritodens demissa

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Synonyms: Pterinea
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Geologic Range
Upper Ordovician – Lower Devonian

Common Paleoecology
Caritodens is an extinct genus of stationary epifaunal suspension feeders

Identification in Hand Sample:

  • Upright, suborbicular shells
  • Distinguished by auricles, well-defined posterior wing
  • Comarginal ridges strongly developed
  • Lacks radial ornamentation

Geographic Occurrences

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Fossils of Ohio (1996):

  • Ornamentation comarginal only.
  • The Upper Ordovician genus Caritodens is represented in Cincinnatian rocks by C. demissa (Conrad), a large species distinguished by auricles (large winglike extensions of the hinge), strongly developed comarginal ridges, and the lack of any radial ornamentation.

Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part N, Mollusca 6 (1 of 3) (1969):

  • (Under Pterinea) Upright, suborbicular shells without radial ornamentation and possessing a well-developed rounded auricle and well-defined posterior wing

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C. demissa