Lingula (brachiopod)
genus of brachiopods
Lingula is a genus of brachiopods within the class Lingulata. Lingula has been historically considered a 'living fossil' with members stretching back to the Cambrian, but those fossils likely represent other genera in the order Lingulida and the genus likely first originated in the early Cenozoic or late Cretaceous. Like its relatives, it has two unadorned organo-phosphatic valves and a long fleshy stalk. Lingula lives in burrows in barren sandy coastal seafloor and feeds by filtering detritus from the water. It can be detected by a short row of three openings through which it takes in water (sides) and expels it again (middle).
Anatomy and morphology
Shell
A shell encloses the organs and other internal parts of the body, except for a long, fleshy stalk (or pedicle) that extends from the tail (or posterior) end of the shell. This shell has two nearly identical tan or bronze valves, that are often tinged greenish or bluegreenish. These are held together by muscles between them. The valves are secreted by two mantle folds, one on the dorsal and one on the ventral side of the body. The valves are composed of chitin, protein, and calcium phosphate and consist of about 50% organic material.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Lingula (brachiopod)” is genus of brachiopods. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lingula, brachiopod and genus, not as a finished interpretation.
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The phrase “genus of brachiopods” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q150580. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Lingula (brachiopod)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.