Sphenothallus

Sphenothallus
Temporal range: Upper Lower Cambrian–Mississippian[Note 1][1][2][3]
Sphenothallus holdfast from the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician), Gunpowder Creek, Kentucky.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Scyphozoa
Order: †Conulariida
Genus: Sphenothallus
Hall, 1847

Sphenothallus is a problematic extinct genus lately attributed to the conulariids. It was widespread in shallow marine environments during the Paleozoic.[2]

Contents

Occurrence

Sphenothallus is represented in the Cambrian period in the Kaili biota and the Mount Stephen trilobite beds, where it co-occurs with the similar organisms Cambrorhythium and Byronia.[1] It is known in younger strata in Canada and the USA, surviving at least until the Mississippian.[3]

Ecology

Sphenothallus lived in groups as an opportunist in environments from hardgrounds to soft mud, even if depleted in oxygen.[3] It probably dispersed via larvae.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Earliest, upper Lower Cambrian (Van Iten et al 2002); latest, not referenced; at least to Mississippian

External links

References

  1. ^ a b Van Iten, H.; Zhu, M. Y.; Collins, D. (2002). "First Report of Sphenothallus Hall, 1847 in the Middle Cambrian". Journal of Paleontology 76 (5): 902–905. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2002)076<0902:FROSHI>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-3360. JSTOR 1307202.  edit
  2. ^ a b Bodenbender, B. E.; Wilson, M. A.; Palmer, T. J. (1989). "Paleoecology of Sphenothallus on an Upper Ordovician hardground". Lethaia 22: 217. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1989.tb01685.x.  edit
  3. ^ a b c d Neal, M. L.; Hannibal, J. T. (2000). "Paleoecologic and Taxonomic Implications Ofsphenothallusandsphenothallus-Like Specimens from Ohio and Areas Adjacent to Ohio". Journal of Paleontology 74 (3): 369. doi:10.1666/0022-3360(2000)074<0369:PATIOS>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0022-3360.  edit