What is Lingula?
Q: What is Lingula?
A: Lingula is a genus of brachiopods in the class Lingulata.
Q: When did Lingula exist?
A: Lingula is known to have existed since the early Ordovician period.
Q: What is the significance of Lingula?
A: Lingula is a good example of a living fossil.
Q: What is the diet of Lingula?
A: Like all brachiopods, Lingula is a filter feeder.
Q: How are brachiopods similar to bivalves?
A: Brachiopods and bivalves have two shells but they can be distinguished because brachiopods have different dorsal and ventral shells.
Q: What makes Lingula and other brachiopods distinctive from mollusks?
A: Lingula and other brachiopods have a stalk (or peduncle) and their dorsal and ventral shells are distinct from each other, whereas mollusks have mirrored right and left shells.
Q: How long have Lingulata brachiopods existed?
A: The Lingulata brachiopods have existed from the Cambrian period to the present, a time span of over 500 million years!