Spirifer is a genus of marine brachiopods belonging to the order Spiriferida and family Spiriferidae. Species belonging to the genus lived in the Carboniferous (certainly in the Tournaisian and in the Visean, possibly also in the Serpukhovian and the Bashkirian).Carter, J.L., Johnson, J.G., Gourvennec, R. & Hou Hong-fei (2006) Spiriferida, [In:] Roger L. Kaesler (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part H, Brachiopoda, Revised. Volume 5: Rhynchonelliformea (part), Boulder, Colorado–Lawrence, Kansas: Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, pp. 1689–1876.
This genus used to be treated more widely, so less critical sources list its species from the Middle Ordovician (Sandbian) through to the Late Triassic (Carnian) with a global distribution.
Like most brachiopods, representatives of Spirifer were stationary epifaunal suspension feeders.Spirifer at Fossilworks.org
Selected species
Spirifer acutiplicatus Hayasaka, 1933 Spirifer bambadhurensis Diener, 1903 Spirifer baschkirica Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer battu Gemmellaro, 1899 Spirifer byrangi Chernyak, 1963 Spirifer carnicus Schellwien, 1892 Spirifer concentricus Lee and Su, 1980 Spirifer distefanii Gemmellaro, 1899 Spirifer dvinaensis Licharew, 1927 Spirifer enderlei Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer engelgardthi Chernyak, 1963 Spirifer fritschi Schellwien, 1892 Spirifer holodnensis Chernyak, 1963 Spirifer lirellus Cvancara, 1958 Spirifer malistanensis Plodowski, 1968 Spirifer muensteri Suess, 1854 Spirifer opimus Hall, 1858 Spirifer pentagonoides Plodowski, 1968 Spirifer pentlandi d'Orbigny, 1842 Spirifer perlamellosus Hall, 1857 Spirifer piassinaensis Chernyak, 1963 Spirifer postventricosus Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer pseudotasmaniensis Einor, 1939 Spirifer rakuszi Einor, 1946 Spirifer rockymontanus Marcou, 1858 Spirifer schellwieni Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer siculus Gemmellaro, 1899 Spirifer spitiensis Stoliczka, 1865 Spirifer strangwaysi De Verneuil, 1845 Spirifer striatus Martin, 1809 Spirifer subgrandiformis Plodowski, 1968 Spirifer subtrigonalis Gemmellaro, 1899 Spirifer supracarbonicus Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer supramosquensis Nikitin, 1890 Spirifer tareiaensis Einor, 1939 Spirifer tegulatus Trautschold, 1876 Spirifer undata Reed, 1944 Spirifer uralicus Tschernyschew, 1902 Spirifer zitteli Schellwien, 1892
Reassigned species As Spirifer has been described early on, since then, many species have been reassigned.
S. archiaciformis = Sinospirifer subextensus S. bisulcatus = Angiospirifer bisulcatus S. chinensis mut. α = Sinospirifer subextensus S. gortanioides = Plicapustula gortanioides S. hayasakai = Lamarckispirifer hayasakai S. heterosinosus = Sinospirifer subextensus S. martellii = Plicapustula martellii S. pekinensis = Plicapustula pekinensis S. pellizzarii = Sinospirifer subextensus S. pellizzariformis = Sinospirifer subextensus S. pinguis = Latibrachythyris pinguis S. rotundatus = Latibrachythyris rotundatus S. subhayasakai = Sinospirifer subextensus S. verneuili = Cyrtospirifer verneuili S. verneuili var. subarchiaci = Plicapustula subarchiaci S. verneuili var. subextensus = Sinospirifer subextensus S. vilis = Sinospirifer subextensus S. wangleighi = Sinospirifer subextensus S. yassensis = Spinella yassensis
References
External links Zipcodezoo Sepkoski, Jack Sepkoski's Online Genus Database