| P number: | P549516 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Thamnopora cervicornus, a fossil coral. |
| Description: | Thamnopora is a colonial rugose coral which is found in rocks of Devonian age (about 354-417 million years old). Branched corallites can be seen in the rock, and because of the way they are arranged, they can be viewed from the top and side in one corallum. The specimen illustrated, which comes from Torquay, Devon, lived during mid-Devonian times, about 370-390 million years ago. The branched skeleton (corallum) of Thamnopora cervicornus is formed of many closely united corallites with a rounded cross-section. When viewed from the top of the corallite, the walls can be seen to be thickened and the septa are thin and spine-like (although they are not often seen). When the corallite wall is eroded away the very thin, widely spaced tabulae can be seen in side view. Rugose corals may be either solitary or colonial animals. The coral is constructed of a calcareous skeleton subdivided by numerous plates called septa and dissepiments. The soft-bodied animal (polyp) sat in a hollow in the top surface of the corallum (called a calice). They first evolved during the Ordovician and became extinct at the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Portrait |
| Size: | 562.10 KB; 707 x 1000 pixels; 60 x 85 mm (print at 300 DPI); 187 x 265 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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