Protocardia texana (Conrad, 1857)

Remarks

• Collector:    Keith Minor
• Formation:  Fredericksburg Group, Bee Caves Limestone (= Upper Walnut Clay)
• Location:     Travis County, TX

General Info

Synonyms (older names and misidentifications in the literature)

• "Texas Heart" Clam
• 1852 Cardium hillanum Sowerby; Roemer
• 1857 Cardium (Protocardia) texana Conrad
• 1871 Cardium (Protocardia) salinaensis Meek
• 1889 Cardium (Protocardium) hillanum Sowerby; Hill
• 1890 Cardium hillanum? Sowerby; Cragin
• 1895 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Cragin
• 1895 Cardium (Protocardia) texanum Conrad; Stanton
• 1900 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Stanton
• 1910 Cardium (Protocardia) hillanum Sowerby; Böse
• 1920 Protocardia hillana (Sowerby); Winton and Adkins
• 1924 Protocardia texana Conrad; Twenhofel
• 1928 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Bullard
• 1928 Protocardia hillana (Sowerby); Adkins
• 1928 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Adkins
• 1960 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Laughbaum
• 1960 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Perkins
• 1977 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Kauffman
• 1982 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Offeman et al.
• 1989 Protocardia texana (Conrad); Finsley

Stratigraphic Occurrence

• Uppermost Washita Group, Buda Formation of Central Texas
• Uppermost Washita Group, Grayson Formation of North Texas
• Upper Washita Group, Mainstreet Formation of North Texas
• Lower Washita Group, Denton Formation of North Texas
• Lower Washita Group, Fort Worth Formation of North Texas
• Lower Washita Group, Duck Creek Formation of North Texas
• Lower Washita Group, Smeltertown Formation of El Paso, TX
• Fredericksburg Group, Kiamichi Formation of North Texas
• Fredericksburg Group, Goodland Formation of North Texas
• Fredericksburg Group, Comanche Peak Formation of North–Central Texas
• Fredericksburg Group, Walnut Formation of North Texas
• Fredericksburg Group, Lower Aurora Limestone (Walnut/Goodland equivalent) of Coahuila, Mexico
• Skull Creek Group, Mentor Member of the Kiowa Shale (= Belvidere Shale) of Southern Kansas

Age

• Protocardia texana (Conrad) is a relatively long-ranging clam, as mollusks go.  It ranges from about middle Albian to early Cenomanian time (~107 to 97 mya).

Geographic Occurrence (not an all-inclusive list)

• Coahuila, Mexico
• El Paso County, TX
• Grayson County, TX
• Kiowa County, KS
• Tarrant County, TX
• Travis County, TX
• Wise County, TX

Remarks

         For identification and descriptions, see:

• Perkins, B. F. 1960.  Biostratigraphic Studies in the Comanche (Cretaceous) Series of Northern Mexico and Texas.  Geological Society of America Memoir 83, 73-74, plate 21, fig's 1-8.