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Leptaena
This articulate brachiopod has a shell with a semicircular outline, with prominent auricles and a straight hinge line. The pedicle valve is slightly convex and the brachial valve usually flat, except at the front margins where both valves bend almost at right angles. The ornament consists of numerous very fine, clustered ribs, and strong, concentric wrinkles (rugae).
HABITAT Leptaena lay on the sea floor with its pedicle valve downward. The upward-projecting front margin was kept clear of the sediment surface, allowing the brachial valve to be almost completely buried.
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Extinct