Trochocyathus imperialis

via iDigBio · via iDigBio. 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
- TrochocyathusPBDB
- Diet
- microcarnivorePBDB, for Trochocyathus
- Life habit
- low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Trochocyathus
- Motility
- stationary, attachedPBDB, for Trochocyathus
- Vision
- blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
- Environment
- marinePBDB, for Scleractinia
Time the record covers
At least 7 million years on record.
The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 41.03 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 37.71 Mya.
5 occurrences of Trochocyathus imperialis on record, most of them in the Eocene. 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
5 occurrences- Eocene100%
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
3 formations
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The named rock units Trochocyathus imperialis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 2 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.
Trochocyathus imperialis and its relatives
EoceneWhere Trochocyathus imperialis and its relatives were recorded in the Eocene.
Found in the same rock
93 taxa- Nemocardium (Nemocardium) linteum3 sites
- Crenaturricula crenatospira2 sites
- Homalopoma wattsi2 sites
- Ledina fresnoensis2 sites
- Nucula (Nucula) cooperi2 sites
- Polinices (Euspira) nuciformis2 sites
- Pseudoperissolax blakei2 sites
- Acila (Truncacila) decisa1 site
- Ancilla (Spirancilla) gabbi1 site
- Arca1 site
- Aturia1 site
- Balanophyllia variabilis1 site
- Bonellitia (Admetula) paucivaricata1 site
- Brachidontes (Brachidontes) cowlitzensis1 site
- Cadulus1 site
- Calliovarica eocensis1 site
- Calyptraea diegoana1 site
- Cancer1 site
- Cardiomya1 site
- Caryocorbula parilis1 site
- Conus hornii1 site
- Corbula rosecanyonensis1 site
- Crassatella lillisi1 site
- Dentalium (Laevidentalium) lighti1 site
The Paleobiology Database records 4 sites for Trochocyathus imperialis, 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
4 references- Corals from the Cretaceous and Tertiary of California and Oregon2
- Eocene (Capay) corals from California1
- The Capay Middle Eocene of Northern California1
- The geology and paleontology of the type section of the Meganos Formation (lower Middle Eocene) of California1
Each of the 5 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. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.
Media and terms
Media content1

Picture of Trochocyathus imperialis
- Source
- iDigBio
- Credit
- via iDigBio
- Licence
- not stated by the source
- Commercial use
- cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
No 3D scan of Trochocyathus imperialis 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.
This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.
Keep going
What may have been alongside itTrochocyathus through timeFormations of the EoceneThe world it lived on
Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Nomland 1916