Today for #FlatClamFriday Platyceramus cycloides (prev. P. platinus), the biggest, flattest clams that ever lived. During the Cretaceous these meter-wide XXXL pizzas of the sea thrived in in a variety of habitats, particularly at the bottom of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway that covered much of N. America. Exceptional specimens have been found approaching 3 m in size! They hosted vibrant collections of symbiotic fish, bivalves, shrimp and other creatures in their shells! #clamFacts
@dantheclamman 3 meters 🤯 I am always fascinated with the
extreme sizes molluscs can attain. Any idea why they were that large (photosymbiosis, predation)?
@barankarapunar people speculate about chemosymbiosis as an energy subsidy, based on isotopic observations, environmental interpretation. There are no chemosymbiotic clams in modern day anything like this in size or growth though!