Fenestella

Fenestella is a genus of bryozoans or moss animals, forming fan–shaped colonies with a netted appearance. It is known from the Middle Ordovician to the early Upper Triassic (Carnian), reaching its largest diversity during the Carboniferous. Many hundreds of species have been described from marine sediments all over the world.

Fenestella

Dwergenpaartje · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
FenestellidaePBDB
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 196 million years on record.

The record covers at least 450.2 Mya to 254.14 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 454 Mya to 251.902 Mya.

Ordovician — about 17 of 983 occurrencesSilurian — about 80 of 983 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 226 of 983 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 379 of 983 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 281 of 983 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 0 of 983 occurrences458–451 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences451–444 Mya — about 14 occurrences444–437 Mya — about 16 occurrences437–430 Mya — about 40 occurrences430–423 Mya — about 25 occurrences423–416 Mya — about 4 occurrences416–409 Mya — about 28 occurrences409–402 Mya — about 7 occurrences402–395 Mya — about 8 occurrences395–388 Mya — about 41 occurrences388–381 Mya — about 95 occurrences381–374 Mya — about 3 occurrences374–367 Mya — about 9 occurrences367–360 Mya — about 26 occurrences360–353 Mya — about 31 occurrences353–346 Mya — about 32 occurrences346–339 Mya — about 72 occurrences339–332 Mya — about 78 occurrences332–325 Mya — about 78 occurrences325–318 Mya — about 41 occurrences318–311 Mya — about 23 occurrences311–304 Mya — about 21 occurrences304–297 Mya — about 10 occurrences297–290 Mya — about 33 occurrences290–283 Mya — about 67 occurrences283–276 Mya — about 25 occurrences276–269 Mya — about 41 occurrences269–262 Mya — about 61 occurrences262–255 Mya — about 37 occurrences255–248 Mya — about 15 occurrences450.2 Mya254.14 Mya458 Mya248 Mya

983 occurrences of Fenestella on record, most of them in the Carboniferous. 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

983 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

273 formations

Bangor Limestone — 34.59°N, 87.63°WBangor Limestone — 34.52°N, 87.58°WLudlowville — 42.86°N, 77.76°WLudlowville — 42.87°N, 77.88°WLudlowville — 42.83°N, 77.81°WLudlowville — 42.83°N, 76.50°WLudlowville — 42.86°N, 76.35°WLudlowville — 42.93°N, 76.22°WLudlowville — 42.73°N, 76.71°WLudlowville — 42.84°N, 76.33°WLudlowville — 42.89°N, 76.14°WLudlowville — 42.76°N, 75.54°WMahantango — 40.50°N, 77.25°WMahantango — 40.05°N, 77.52°WMahantango — 40.33°N, 76.92°WMahantango — 40.42°N, 77.17°WMahantango — 40.42°N, 77.00°WMahantango — 40.50°N, 76.92°WPilton Shales — 51.08°N, 4.05°WEdwardsville — 39.50°N, 86.50°WEdwardsville — 39.75°N, 86.67°WEdwardsville — 39.25°N, 86.33°WEdwardsville — 39.00°N, 86.25°WEdwardsville — 39.04°N, 86.50°WFort Payne Chert — 36.92°N, 84.96°WFort Payne Chert — 36.54°N, 85.16°WFort Payne Chert — 36.72°N, 85.45°WSalem Limestone — 37.31°N, 85.44°WSalem Limestone — 37.79°N, 85.82°WSalem Limestone — 37.26°N, 85.34°WSalem Limestone — 37.43°N, 85.40°WSalem Limestone — 37.33°N, 85.50°WSalem Limestone — 37.18°N, 85.32°WSalem Limestone — 37.19°N, 85.37°WSalem Limestone — 37.55°N, 85.70°WSalem Limestone — 37.05°N, 85.05°WSalem Limestone — 38.06°N, 85.98°WSalem Limestone — 38.03°N, 86.03°WPoperima — 25.05°S, 151.34°EPoperima — 25.07°S, 151.37°EPoperima — 25.00°S, 151.37°EPoperima — 25.00°S, 151.31°ETabberabbera — 37.78°S, 147.39°ETabberabbera — 37.58°S, 147.38°ERands — 25.04°S, 151.34°ERands — 24.99°S, 151.36°ESkaneateles — 42.86°N, 75.89°WSkaneateles — 42.86°N, 76.15°WSkaneateles — 42.93°N, 75.99°WSkaneateles — 42.79°N, 75.57°WSkaneateles — 42.90°N, 76.29°WSkaneateles — 42.89°N, 76.13°WKapp Starostin — 77.71°N, 14.69°EKapp Starostin — 78.08°N, 13.80°EFenestella Shales — 32.05°N, 78.32°EFenestella Shales — 32.44°N, 77.75°EFenestella Shales — 33.91°N, 75.29°EFenestella Shales — 33.92°N, 75.22°EFenestella Shales — 33.84°N, 75.23°EGlen Dean Limestone — 38.17°N, 86.57°WGlen Dean Limestone — 38.12°N, 86.57°WGlen Dean Limestone — 38.37°N, 86.62°WRochester — 43.16°N, 79.05°WRochester — 43.16°N, 77.68°WRochester — 43.19°N, 77.56°WRochester — 43.23°N, 77.21°WRochester — 43.22°N, 77.02°WRochester — 43.21°N, 76.88°WRochester — 43.26°N, 76.70°WRochester — 43.25°N, 76.64°WRedoak Hollow — 34.37°N, 97.34°WJaycox — 42.88°N, 78.02°WJaycox — 42.85°N, 77.83°WJaycox — 42.89°N, 77.70°WJaycox — 42.82°N, 77.29°WJaycox — 42.76°N, 76.97°WHumbug — 40.60°N, 112.47°WHumbug — 40.23°N, 111.65°WKazan — 57.54°N, 49.29°EKazan — 57.47°N, 49.08°EKazan — 66.05°N, 43.48°EKazan — 64.40°N, 44.25°EKazan — 57.67°N, 49.16°EKazan — 63.10°N, 51.15°EKazan — 57.61°N, 49.05°ECattle Creek — 24.85°S, 148.32°ECattle Creek — 25.21°S, 148.78°ENoonkanbah — 17.92°S, 123.93°ENoonkanbah — 17.38°S, 124.36°ENoonkanbah — 18.70°S, 125.00°ELodgepole Limestone — 45.87°N, 111.71°WLodgepole Limestone — 45.78°N, 111.71°WLodgepole Limestone — 45.97°N, 111.54°WLodgepole Limestone — 43.66°N, 111.33°WOnondaga — 42.95°N, 76.17°WOnondaga — 42.78°N, 74.33°WOnondaga — 42.96°N, 78.74°WOnondaga — 42.70°N, 74.92°WOnondaga — 42.65°N, 74.08°WFairview — 39.01°N, 84.45°WFairview — 38.68°N, 83.79°W

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The named rock units Fenestella has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 249 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 95 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Fenestella and its relatives

Carboniferous

Where Fenestella and its relatives were recorded in the Carboniferous.

Found in the same rock

1,641 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 775 sites for Fenestella, 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

246 references

Each of the 983 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. 234 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 Fenestella

Credit
Dwergenpaartje
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Fenestella was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itFenestellidae through timeFormations of the CarboniferousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Lonsdale 1839)