Article
Article
Heterodonta
Article By:
Dimock, Ronald V., Jr. Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.368900
The largest subclass in the class Bivalvia, phylum Mollusca. The subclass Heterodonta contains some of the most ecologically important bivalves (Fig. 1). For example, marine clams, cockles, and shipworms are heterodonts. Formerly, the class Bivalvia comprised five or more subclasses. However, modern phylogenetic studies have reduced the number of subclasses to four: Protobranchia, Pteriomorphia, Paleoheterodonta, and Heterodonta. In particular, members of the former subclass Septibranchia (Anomalodesmata) have been subsumed within the heterodonts. With approximately 4000–5000 species (about 50% of living bivalves), the heterodonts represent a very important assemblage of mollusks that has undergone a great deal of adaptive radiation. The group also has a rich fossil history, dating from the Lower Paleozoic. See also: Bivalvia; Mollusca; Paleoheterodonta; Protobranchia; Pteriomorphia; Septibranchia (Anomalodesmata)
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