Heliophyllum

Heliophyllum is an extinct genus of corals that existed predominantly in the Devonian. Heliophyllum is of the order Rugosa and can be referred to as horn corals. They were mostly solitary animals, although some were colonial. The genus had a wide distribution. Fossils of H. halli have been found in the fossil rich Floresta Formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia. This genus used its nematocysts to stun prey.

Heliophyllum

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
ZaphrentidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Rugosa
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Rugosa
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Rugosa
Vision
blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
Environment
marinePBDB, for Rugosa

Time the record covers

At least 44 million years on record.

The record covers at least 419.62 Mya to 375.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 443.1 Mya to 372.15 Mya.

Ordovician — about 0 of 181 occurrencesSilurian — about 4 of 181 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 177 of 181 occurrencesDevonian445–442 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences442–440 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences440–437 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences437–435 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences435–432 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences432–430 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences430–427 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences427–425 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences425–422 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences422–420 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences420–417 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences417–415 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences415–413 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences413–410 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences410–408 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences408–405 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences405–403 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences403–400 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences400–398 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences398–395 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences395–393 Mya — about 6 occurrences393–390 Mya — about 22 occurrences390–388 Mya — about 22 occurrences388–385 Mya — about 50 occurrences385–383 Mya — about 50 occurrences383–381 Mya — about 16 occurrences381–378 Mya — about 2 occurrences378–376 Mya — about 1 occurrence376–373 Mya — about 2 occurrences373–371 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences419.62 Mya375.2 Mya445 Mya371 Mya

181 occurrences of Heliophyllum on record, most of them in the Devonian. 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

181 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

32 formations

Ludlowville — 42.85°N, 78.64°WLudlowville — 42.86°N, 77.76°WLudlowville — 42.87°N, 77.88°WLudlowville — 42.83°N, 77.81°WLudlowville — 42.88°N, 78.57°WLudlowville — 42.96°N, 78.13°WLudlowville — 42.80°N, 77.27°WLudlowville — 42.86°N, 76.35°WLudlowville — 42.85°N, 78.37°WLudlowville — 42.77°N, 76.71°WLudlowville — 42.73°N, 76.71°WLudlowville — 42.76°N, 76.47°WSkaneateles — 42.94°N, 76.25°WSkaneateles — 42.92°N, 76.21°WSkaneateles — 42.86°N, 76.14°WSkaneateles — 42.93°N, 75.99°WSkaneateles — 42.86°N, 75.89°WSkaneateles — 42.85°N, 75.58°WSkaneateles — 42.88°N, 75.52°WOnondaga — 43.01°N, 78.01°WOnondaga — 42.95°N, 76.17°WOnondaga — 42.92°N, 78.25°WOnondaga — 42.78°N, 74.33°WOnondaga — 42.96°N, 78.74°WOnondaga — 42.00°N, 74.00°WMoscow — 42.71°N, 78.94°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 77.90°WMoscow — 42.75°N, 77.01°WMoscow — 42.83°N, 75.78°WMoscow — 42.75°N, 77.15°WMoscow — 42.90°N, 78.04°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.83°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 77.57°WMoscow — 42.78°N, 77.33°WSilica — 41.72°N, 83.72°WSilica — 41.12°N, 84.85°WBeechwood Limestone — 38.26°N, 85.63°WJaycox — 42.88°N, 78.02°WJaycox — 42.85°N, 77.83°WJaycox — 42.89°N, 77.70°WJaycox — 42.82°N, 77.29°WJeffersonville Limestone — 38.50°N, 85.75°WLime Creek — 43.05°N, 92.96°WLime Creek — 42.02°N, 93.45°WVaughn Gulch — 36.82°N, 118.08°WAmherstburg — 43.98°N, 81.28°WMoniello — 43.58°N, 5.97°WMoniello — 43.63°N, 2.11°ECandas — 43.49°N, 2.39°EPortilla — 42.83°N, 1.57°EPortilla — 42.83°N, 5.10°WOatka — 42.60°N, 74.33°WMarcellus — 42.51°N, 74.05°WMarcellus — 41.97°N, 74.00°WHorn Plateau — 62.25°N, 119.25°WOnondaga — 42.90°N, 79.30°WCoopers Creek Limestone — 38.15°S, 146.47°EShanda Horizon — 54.28°N, 85.93°EKwataboahegan — 51.50°N, 81.00°WStooping River — 51.00°N, 81.50°WKanouse — 41.35°N, 74.11°WHohenhöfer-Hohräcker Schichten — 50.98°N, 7.45°E

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The named rock units Heliophyllum has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 8 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 30 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Heliophyllum and its relatives

Devonian

Where Heliophyllum and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

809 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 128 sites for Heliophyllum, 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

44 references

Each of the 181 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. 32 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 Heliophyllum

Credit
Wilson44691
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

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

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 itZaphrentidae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Hall 1846