Madrepora

Madrepora is a genus of stony corals, often found forming reefs or islands in tropical locations. The names Madrepore and Madreporaria were formerly applied universally to any stony coral of the family Scleractinia. They reproduce in three separate ways, as discovered by the marine zoologist Anne Thynne (1800–1866). It is commonly known as horn coral. A colony is branched with small polyps in cylindrical cups separated by a perforated coenosteum. Terminal polyps bear six tentacles, while lateral polyps bear twelve tentacles. Madrepora is economically important, since it contributes to the formation of coral reefs.

Madrepora

NURC/UNCW and NOAA/FGBNMS · 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
OculinidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
colonial, clonalPBDB, for Faviina
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Oculinidae
Vision
blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
Environment
marinePBDB, for Scleractinia

Time the record covers

At least 65 million years on record.

The record covers at least 66 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 72.2 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Late Cretaceous — about 3 of 71 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 6 of 71 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 19 of 71 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 11 of 71 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 14 of 71 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 3 of 71 occurrencesPleistocene — about 15 of 71 occurrences74–71 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences71–69 Mya — about 1 occurrence69–66 Mya — about 1 occurrence66–64 Mya — about 3 occurrences64–61 Mya — about 2 occurrences61–59 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences59–56 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences56–54 Mya — about 2 occurrences54–52 Mya — about 2 occurrences49–47 Mya — about 2 occurrences47–44 Mya — about 3 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 3 occurrences42–39 Mya — about 4 occurrences39–37 Mya — about 3 occurrences37–34 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 2 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 3 occurrences25–22 Mya — about 2 occurrences22–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–17 Mya — about 2 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 2 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences12–9.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences9.8–7.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences7.4–4.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences4.9–2.5 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.5–0 Mya — about 15 occurrences66 Mya129 ka74 Mya0 Mya

71 occurrences of Madrepora on record, most of them in the Eocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

71 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

17 formations

Red Bluff Tuff — 44.00°S, 176.50°WRed Bluff Tuff — 44.30°S, 176.25°WRed Bluff Tuff — 44.30°S, 176.25°ETermofourà — 45.07°N, 7.82°EJagüel — 38.13°S, 68.41°WGelingseh — 1.07°N, 117.85°EGelingseh — 0.87°N, 117.85°EFaluns de Bois-Gouët — 47.49°N, 1.58°WByram Marl — 32.32°N, 90.88°WSobral — 64.25°S, 56.75°WSobral — 64.25°S, 56.70°WKoheroa Siltstone — 37.67°S, 175.15°ETumaio Limestone — 43.75°S, 176.67°EBrèches rouges de Carboneras — 37.60°N, 1.32°WSicilian — 38.15°N, 15.65°EOpoka — 51.33°N, 21.97°EPahi Greensand — 36.15°S, 174.22°EGrand Bay — 12.50°N, 61.42°WImperial — 32.83°N, 116.04°WYoshino — 35.05°N, 133.97°ECane River — 31.88°N, 93.37°W

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The named rock units Madrepora has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 41 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Madrepora and its relatives

Eocene

Where Madrepora and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.

Found in the same rock

816 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 26 sites for Madrepora, 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

33 references

Each of the 71 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. 21 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 Madrepora

Credit
NURC/UNCW and NOAA/FGBNMS
Licence
Public Domain
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 itOculinidae through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linne 1758