Ostrea
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Ostrea Temporal range: Permian - Recent |
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| A lower valve (the attachment valve) of a shell of Ostrea edulis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Ostreoida |
| Family: | Ostreidae |
| Subfamily: | Ostreinae |
| Genus: |
Ostrea (Linnaeus, 1758) |
| species | |
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See text |
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See text
Ostrea is a genus of edible oysters, marine bivalve mollusks in the family Ostreidae, the oysters.
This genus is very ancient. It is known in the fossil records from the Permian to the Quaternary (age range: from 259 to 0.0 million years ago). Fossil shells of these molluscs can be found all over the world. Genus Ostrea includes about 150 extinct species.
At least one species within this genus, Ostrea lurida, has been recovered in archaeological excavations along the Central California coast of the Pacific Ocean, demonstrating it was a marine taxon exploited by the Native American Chumash people as a food source.
Species in the genus Ostrea include:
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