Amplexopora

Amplexopora is a genus of bryozoans of the family Amplexoporidae, known in the rock record from the Ordovician to the Permian periods. Species belonging to this genus were stationary epifaunal suspension feeders. Their colonies showed a very great variety in shapes.

Amplexopora

Wilson44691 · CC0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AmplexoporidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Bryozoa
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Vision
blindPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 186 million years on record.

The record covers at least 461.1 Mya to 274.4 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 266.9 Mya.

Cambrian — about 0 of 102 occurrencesOrdovician — about 92 of 102 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 9 of 102 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 0 of 102 occurrencesCarboniferous — about 0 of 102 occurrencesPermian — about 1 of 102 occurrencesPermian491–484 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences484–476 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences476–468 Mya — about 1 occurrence468–461 Mya — about 4 occurrences461–453 Mya — about 33 occurrences453–445 Mya — about 52 occurrences445–438 Mya — about 3 occurrences438–430 Mya — about 5 occurrences430–423 Mya — about 3 occurrences278–270 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences270–263 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences461.1 Mya274.4 Mya491 Mya263 Mya

102 occurrences of Amplexopora on record, most of them in the Ordovician. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

102 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

39 formations

Denley Limestone — 43.21°N, 75.46°WDenley Limestone — 43.00°N, 76.00°WDenley Limestone — 44.00°N, 75.00°WDenley Limestone — 43.28°N, 75.14°WDenley Limestone — 43.88°N, 75.49°WLexington Limestone — 38.00°N, 85.00°WLexington Limestone — 38.00°N, 84.67°WLexington Limestone — 37.65°N, 84.95°WSteinsfjorden — 60.17°N, 10.30°ESteinsfjorden — 68.79°N, 14.95°ESteinsfjorden — 60.00°N, 10.29°ESteinsfjorden — 60.08°N, 10.30°EKope — 39.00°N, 84.00°WLeipers — 35.50°N, 86.50°WDecorah Shale — 42.50°N, 91.25°WSugar River Limestone — 43.00°N, 76.00°WSugar River Limestone — 44.00°N, 75.00°WSugar River Limestone — 43.00°N, 75.00°WBad Cache Rapids — 68.75°N, 81.63°WBad Cache Rapids — 68.54°N, 81.53°WBad Cache Rapids — 68.34°N, 82.37°WBad Cache Rapids — 68.38°N, 82.31°WHolston — 35.92°N, 83.97°WHolston — 35.87°N, 84.07°WArnheim — 39.00°N, 84.00°WArnheim — 39.03°N, 83.92°WCatheys — 35.50°N, 86.50°WGabian — 43.52°N, 3.25°EKings Falls — 43.21°N, 75.46°WFairview — 39.00°N, 84.00°WLiberty — 39.00°N, 84.00°WLiberty — 41.00°N, 86.69°WBenjamin Limestone — 42.00°S, 146.00°EHermitage — 35.50°N, 86.50°WSugar River — 43.21°N, 75.46°WMartinsburg — 36.95°N, 81.08°WBellevue — 39.00°N, 84.00°WCorryville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WWaynesville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WInman — 35.50°N, 86.50°WSan Juan — 31.00°S, 69.00°W

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The named rock units Amplexopora has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 15 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Amplexopora and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Amplexopora and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

934 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 86 sites for Amplexopora, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

25 references

Each of the 102 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 13 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Amplexopora

Credit
Wilson44691
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC0 Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

Everything alive alongside itAmplexoporidae through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.