Lucinids: 400 Million Years Of Symbiotic Survival
Friday, August 1, 2014 - 10:10
in Paleontology & Archaeology
One of the most diverse families in the ocean today, marine bivalve mollusks - called Lucinidae or lucinids - originated more than 400 million years ago in the Silurian period, with adaptations and life habits like those of its modern members. About 500 lucinid species exist today, with by far the highest diversity in shallow-sea seagrass meadows. They did it all with a little help from symbiotic friends. At its origin, the Lucinidae family remained at very low diversity until the rise of mangroves and seagrasses near the end of the Cretaceous. Mangroves and seagrasses created protective habitats in which the bivalve mollusks could thrive, in turn providing benefit through a sort of tri-level symbiosis. read more