124 



OHIO FOSSILS 



The genus 

 Anodonta (fig. 355) is 

 easily recognized; no 

 other freshwater mussel 

 has such a thin shell; 

 besides, the hinge is 

 completely without 

 teeth. Several species 

 live in Ohio lakes and 

 rivers at present. 

 Fragments have been 

 found in Pleistocene 

 deposits, usually too 

 poorly preserved for 

 specific identification. 



Fig. 355 



Strophitus (fig. 356) is similar to Anodonta in 

 having a thin shell and lacking lateral teeth, but it 

 differs in having one or two rudimentary cardinal 

 teeth in each valve. 



In Lasmigona (fig. 357) the hinge 

 of the right valve bears one cardinal 

 tooth, that of the left valve two; the 

 lateral teeth are poorly developed. In 

 one group of species of this genus, the 

 shell is strongly fluted at one end; in 

 another group, it is smooth or nearly 

 so. Species of the genus have not so 

 far been identified from Ohio Pleistocene 

 deposits, but they will be found in them 

 sooner or later. Several species of 

 Lasmigona are still living in Ohio 

 waters. 



The shell of Elliptio (fig. 358) is solid and 

 the interior is purple. The hinge has two cardinal 

 and two lateral teeth in the left valve; one cardinal 

 and one lateral in the right valve. This is a river 

 mussel, usually poorly preserved in Pleistocene 

 river deposits, but still living in the rivers of the 

 state. 



Fig. 35B 



