Cornulitida Temporal range: Mid Ordovician–Mid Devonian[1] |
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Cornulitid on a brachiopod valve (Upper Ordovician, SE Indiana) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca? |
Class: | Tentaculita |
Order: | Cornulitida |
Genera | |
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Cornulitida is an extinct order of encrusting animals from the Tentaculita class, which were common across the globe in the Ordovician to Devonian oceans, and survived until the Carboniferous.[1]
The organisms had shells, and were subject to predation by boring and other means from the Ordovician onwards. Many survived attacks by predators.[1]
Their affinity is unknown; they have been placed in many phyla, and have been considered worms, corals, molluscs and more.[1] They appear to be closely related to other taxa of uncertain affinity, including the microconchids, trypanoporids and tentaculitids.[1]