Introduction to the Lingulata
The only brachiopods to support a minor commercial fishery, lingulate brachiopods are also among the oldest of all brachiopods, and the most morphologically conservative, having lasted since the Cambrian with very little change in shape. The preserved specimen of a living lingulate shown here, Lingula, shows the typical tongue-shaped shell (hence the name Lingulata, from the Latin word for "tongue") with a long stalk, or pedicle, with which the animal burrows into sandy or muddy sediments.
