476 THE PALEONTOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. ^ ,_ 



[Lamellibrancliiata. 



of the foot, and another in'the back serving for both the inhalation of water and the 

 expulsion of the excrements. The posterior opening may be further modified so as 

 to form two more or less distinct tubes or siphons, and these may be retractible or 

 of such size and consistency that they project permanently through the gaping 

 posterior margin of the shell. In most instances the siphons are capable of being 

 completely or partially retracted, and the line of attachment of the muscles of the 

 mantle producing this retraction is bent inward more or less decidedly. When such 

 an inbending of the pallial line (as the attachment of the mantle to the inner surface 

 of the shell is called) is found in fossil shells the inference is regarded as conclusive 

 that the animal possessed retractile siphons. When, on the other hand, the pallial 

 line is simple (i. e., without a sinus) we are obliged to conclude that the siphons were 

 either very small or wanting entirely. 



The foot — a perfectly retractile organ, presumably of locomotion — ^lies in the 

 anterior part of the shell between the gills and mantle lobes. Its forija is various, 

 but commonly compressed, hatchet or club-shaped, and the muscles which produce 

 and regulate its action are attached usually above or behind the anterior adductor. 

 Not infrequently chitinous threads spring from the . lower side of the foot. When 

 these are developed in sufficient number to form a bundle or hyssus, the shells may 

 thereby attach themselves to foreign bodies, and in such cases the anterior margins 

 of the valves do not close tightly, but leave what is known as the hyssal opening. 

 Among paleozoic representatives of this class the Ambonychiidce afford the best 

 instances of shells with a byssal opening. 



Of all the organs of the animal none are of greater importance to the paleon- 

 tologist than the strong muscles {adductors) which serve to close the valves. There 

 may be only one, the posterior, as in the recent oyster, or of the two the anterior 

 one may be disproportionately small. In the majority of cases, however, the two 

 muscles are approximately of equal size. Other and much smaller muscular scars 

 may be noticed, especially in the umbonal cavity, whibh were produced by muscles 

 which partially supported the movements of the gills and palpi and, as already stated, 

 of the foot. 



The shell in which the interest of the paleontologist is chiefly centered consists 

 largely of two layers, the outer, secreted by the thickened margin of the mantle, 

 being composed of vertically arranged prismatic cells filled with calcite, the inner of 

 structureless thin parallel leaves. Generally a delicate chitinous epidermis is spread 

 over the cellulose layer. Growth of the valves begins at the apex or beak, a more 

 or less prominent point situated almost invariably somewhere along the anterior 

 half of the hinge margin. Further increase takes place principally at the periphery, 

 producing, when the edges of the mantle are entire, a simple, more or less regularly 



