Tentaculites

Tentaculites is an extinct genus of conical fossils of uncertain affinity, class Tentaculita, although it is not the only member of the class. It is known from Lower Ordovician to Upper Devonian deposits both as calcitic shells with a brachiopod-like microstructure and carbonaceous 'linings'.

Tentaculites

Kennethcgass · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
TentaculitidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
semi-infaunalPBDB
Motility
facultatively mobilePBDB
Vision
blindPBDB, for Tentaculita

Time the record covers

At least 130 million years on record.

The record covers at least 477.1 Mya to 346.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 330.3 Mya.

Cambrian — about 0 of 589 occurrencesOrdovician — about 43 of 589 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 204 of 589 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 338 of 589 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 4 of 589 occurrencesCarboniferous490–485 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences485–479 Mya — about 2 occurrences479–474 Mya — about 1 occurrence474–468 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences468–463 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences463–457 Mya — about 3 occurrences457–452 Mya — about 12 occurrences452–447 Mya — about 12 occurrences447–441 Mya — about 29 occurrences441–436 Mya — about 73 occurrences436–430 Mya — about 45 occurrences430–425 Mya — about 23 occurrences425–419 Mya — about 48 occurrences419–414 Mya — about 52 occurrences414–409 Mya — about 52 occurrences409–403 Mya — about 19 occurrences403–398 Mya — about 22 occurrences398–392 Mya — about 31 occurrences392–387 Mya — about 53 occurrences387–381 Mya — about 89 occurrences381–376 Mya — about 10 occurrences376–371 Mya — about 7 occurrences371–365 Mya — about 1 occurrence365–360 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences360–354 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences354–349 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences349–343 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences343–338 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences338–333 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences333–327 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences477.1 Mya346.7 Mya490 Mya327 Mya

589 occurrences of Tentaculites 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

589 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

166 formations

Ross Brook — 45.62°N, 61.97°WSilica — 41.72°N, 83.72°WSilica — 42.13°N, 83.60°WSilica — 42.33°N, 83.03°WSilica — 41.12°N, 84.85°WGeneseo — 42.67°N, 75.59°WGeneseo — 42.44°N, 74.54°WGeneseo — 42.56°N, 74.85°WGeneseo — 42.48°N, 74.61°WGeneseo — 42.62°N, 75.41°WGeneseo — 42.57°N, 76.21°WGeneseo — 42.51°N, 74.68°WGeneseo — 42.52°N, 75.01°WGeneseo — 42.51°N, 75.13°WGeneseo — 42.54°N, 74.80°WGeneseo — 42.53°N, 74.87°WRoss Point — 45.62°N, 61.97°WTabberabbera — 37.78°S, 147.38°EMoscow — 42.70°N, 76.75°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 77.90°WMoscow — 42.56°N, 74.58°WMoscow — 42.57°N, 74.54°WMoscow — 42.68°N, 75.46°WMoscow — 42.57°N, 74.67°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.83°WMoscow — 42.55°N, 74.50°WBorshchov and Chortkov horizons — 51.25°N, 21.57°EBorshchov and Chortkov horizons — 51.42°N, 23.33°ESolvik — 59.92°N, 10.75°ESolvik — 60.17°N, 10.30°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°WPonta Grossa — 24.85°S, 50.34°WIvane Horizon — 51.25°N, 21.57°EIvane Horizon — 51.42°N, 23.33°EIvane Horizon — 51.08°N, 19.58°EElm Point — 51.45°N, 98.79°WElm Point — 51.32°N, 98.35°WElm Point — 51.12°N, 98.37°WElm Point — 50.77°N, 98.23°WElm Point — 50.54°N, 98.01°WBeechhill Cove — 45.62°N, 61.97°WWaterways — 58.00°N, 112.72°WGydo — 33.30°S, 21.83°EGydo — 33.52°S, 24.74°EGydo — 33.33°S, 19.37°EGydo — 32.64°S, 19.41°EGydo — 32.18°S, 18.90°EGydo — 33.77°S, 20.92°EGydo — 34.01°S, 23.46°EChortkov Beds — 49.00°N, 26.00°EChortkov Beds — 49.02°N, 25.80°EChortkov Beds — 49.17°N, 26.60°EMahantango — 40.50°N, 77.25°WMahantango — 40.05°N, 77.52°WMahantango — 40.33°N, 76.92°WMahantango — 40.33°N, 77.17°WMahantango — 40.42°N, 77.17°WMahantango — 40.42°N, 77.00°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 78.79°WLudlowville — 42.88°N, 78.57°WLudlowville — 42.87°N, 75.71°WRose Hill — 39.65°N, 78.24°WRose Hill — 39.04°N, 78.71°WRose Hill — 39.65°N, 78.76°WRose Hill — 39.57°N, 78.84°WRose Hill — 37.20°N, 79.95°WRose Hill — 39.20°N, 78.86°WDawson Bay — 52.88°N, 101.05°WDawson Bay — 52.97°N, 100.57°WDawson Bay — 51.65°N, 99.82°WDawson Bay — 52.08°N, 99.84°WDawson Bay — 51.57°N, 99.78°WMcIvor — 34.08°S, 151.02°EMcIvor — 36.77°S, 144.77°EMcIvor — 37.00°S, 144.00°EMcIvor — 37.42°S, 144.17°EEke Beds — 57.17°N, 18.38°EEke Beds — 57.53°N, 18.43°EBostów — 50.90°N, 21.08°EBostów — 51.25°N, 21.57°EDzvenygorod — 54.76°N, 17.56°ESodus — 43.24°N, 77.02°WSodus — 43.25°N, 77.02°WSodus — 43.29°N, 76.74°WSodus — 43.28°N, 76.60°W

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The named rock units Tentaculites has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 142 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 71 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Tentaculites and its relatives

Devonian

Where Tentaculites and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

1,639 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 522 sites for Tentaculites, and this reads 240 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

149 references

Each of the 589 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. 137 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 Tentaculites

Credit
Kennethcgass
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Tentaculites was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itTentaculitidae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. von Schlotheim 1820