Conulariidae

Conulariida are an extinct group of medusozoan cnidarians known from fossils spanning from the latest Ediacaran up until the Late Triassic. They are almost exclusively known from their hard external structures, which were pyramidal in shape and made up of numerous lamellae. They are thought to have been sessile animals that grew with the narrower tip anchored to the seafloor, with the wider end bearing an array of tentacles used to ensnare prey.

Conulariidae

Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster). · Public Domain · 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
ConulariinaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
stationaryPBDB
Vision
blindPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 333 million years on record.

The record covers at least 538.8 Mya to 205.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 635 Mya to 201.4 Mya.

Cambrian — about 9 of 502 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 164 of 502 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 60 of 502 occurrencesDevonian — about 81 of 502 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 78 of 502 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 95 of 502 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 502 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 1 of 502 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 13 of 502 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 502 occurrences644–629 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences629–614 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences614–599 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences599–584 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences584–569 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences569–553 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences553–538 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences523–508 Mya — about 7 occurrences508–493 Mya — about 2 occurrences493–478 Mya — about 5 occurrences478–463 Mya — about 21 occurrences463–448 Mya — about 112 occurrences448–433 Mya — about 46 occurrences433–418 Mya — about 43 occurrences418–403 Mya — about 29 occurrences403–388 Mya — about 26 occurrences388–373 Mya — about 16 occurrences373–358 Mya — about 8 occurrences358–343 Mya — about 10 occurrences343–328 Mya — about 14 occurrences328–313 Mya — about 16 occurrences313–298 Mya — about 38 occurrences298–283 Mya — about 35 occurrences283–268 Mya — about 18 occurrences268–253 Mya — about 37 occurrences253–238 Mya — about 6 occurrences238–223 Mya — about 5 occurrences223–208 Mya — about 2 occurrences208–193 Mya — about 6 occurrences538.8 Mya205.7 Mya644 Mya193 Mya

502 occurrences of Conulariidae 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

502 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

213 formations

Graham — 32.73°N, 98.64°WGraham — 33.26°N, 98.12°WGraham — 33.24°N, 98.08°WGraham — 33.17°N, 98.16°WGraham — 33.13°N, 98.16°WGraham — 33.10°N, 98.40°WGraham — 33.12°N, 98.30°WOlive Series — 32.70°N, 72.96°EOlive Series — 32.80°N, 73.09°EZahorany — 50.00°N, 14.00°EGydo — 33.30°S, 21.83°EGydo — 33.52°S, 24.74°EGydo — 32.64°S, 19.41°EGydo — 33.31°S, 22.43°EGydo — 34.01°S, 23.46°ELiben — 50.00°N, 14.00°ELiben — 49.74°N, 13.54°ELiben — 49.72°N, 13.57°ELiben — 49.80°N, 13.63°ELiben — 49.82°N, 13.75°EPonta Grossa — 24.25°S, 49.70°WPonta Grossa — 26.07°S, 52.58°WPonta Grossa — 25.08°S, 50.15°WPonta Grossa — 24.50°S, 50.40°WLetna — 50.00°N, 14.00°EVinice — 50.00°N, 14.00°ERed River — 52.13°N, 97.52°WRed River — 52.09°N, 97.88°WRed River — 52.42°N, 97.98°WRed River — 52.06°N, 97.44°WVerulam — 44.60°N, 78.97°WVerulam — 44.45°N, 78.70°WVerulam — 44.52°N, 78.97°WVerulam — 44.43°N, 78.78°WVerulam — 44.48°N, 78.95°WBohdalec — 50.00°N, 14.00°EBohdalec — 50.00°N, 14.38°EMuldraugh — 40.04°N, 86.87°WMuldraugh — 40.06°N, 86.90°WRochester Shale — 43.15°N, 77.62°WRochester Shale — 43.10°N, 79.06°WRochester Shale — 39.65°N, 78.76°WMount Ida — 36.77°S, 144.77°ENavas de Estena — 39.00°N, 4.00°WHunsrück Slate — 49.89°N, 7.47°EHunsrück Slate — 49.83°N, 7.37°EMara — 21.74°S, 165.69°EMara — 21.75°S, 165.70°EMara — 21.98°S, 166.05°EBarfield — 25.21°S, 150.22°ELouisiana Limestone — 39.69°N, 91.63°WLouisiana Limestone — 39.71°N, 91.36°WLouisiana Limestone — 39.37°N, 90.90°WLouisiana Limestone — 39.65°N, 91.27°WStonington — 45.67°N, 86.97°WLexington Limestone — 38.00°N, 84.67°WLexington Limestone — 38.21°N, 84.89°WLas Salinas — 43.38°S, 69.87°WMuree — 32.58°S, 151.73°EMuree — 32.76°S, 151.76°ETumugol — 37.17°N, 129.02°E

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The named rock units Conulariidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 189 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 47 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Conulariidae and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Conulariidae and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

3,618 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 392 sites for Conulariidae, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. 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

192 references

Each of the 502 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. 180 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 content1

Picture of Conulariidae

Credit
Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster).
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

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

What may have been alongside itConulariina through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Walcott 1886