Neophyllitidae

Neophyllitidae is a family of small, mostly extinct marine bivalve mollusks that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They are characterized by their small, often delicate shells, which are typically less than 10 millimeters in length. The family is divided into several genera, each with its own unique shell morphology.

The shells of Neophyllitidae are typically inequivalve, meaning the two valves are not identical. They often exhibit a variety of ornamentation, including ribs, costae, and spines. The inner shell layer, or nacre, is usually thin and smooth. The family is known for its diverse range of shell shapes and sizes, reflecting the wide variety of habitats and ecological niches they occupied.

Neophyllitidae are often found in marine sediments, where they provide valuable information about past marine environments and ecosystems. Their small size and delicate nature make them particularly useful for paleoenvironmental reconstruction, as they can be preserved in fine-grained sediments that would otherwise be difficult to analyze.

The family is named for the type genus Neophyllites, which was first described by the German paleontologist Friedrich von Alberti in 1839. Since then, numerous additional genera have been assigned to the family, reflecting the ongoing discovery and study of these small, but important, marine bivalves.