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Gravel Point Formation
The Gravel Point Formation is a geologic formation in western Michigan. It preserves fossils dating back to the middle Devonian period and correlates with the Long Lake Limestone and Alpena Limestone. Description The Michigan Basin was a shallow marine shelf during the middle Devonian, located between 30º South and 20º North latitude in central Laurasia. According to stratigraphic and paleontological examination, the sediments of the Gravel Point Formation were deposited in a shallow lagoonal reef environment. Fossil content Vertebrates Acanthodians Bony fish Placoderms Invertebrates Several species of ostracods, an unidentified arthropod 'hook', crinoid columnals and several species of polychaetes and scolecodonts are known from the formation. Brachiopods Bryozoans Cnidarians Sponges Tentaculitans Trilobites Flora Algal colonies are known from the formation. Acritarchs Plants See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Michigan This ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geological Formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness (geology), thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form. They may consist of a single lithology (rock type), or of alternating beds of two or more lithologies, or even a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies, so long as this distinguishes them from adjacent bodies of rock. The concept of a geologic formation goes back to the beginnings of modern scientific geology. The term was used by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gyracanthidae
Gyracanthidae is an family of extinct fish belonging to the class Acanthodii, known from early Devonian to late Carboniferous. Members are characterized by large, broad-based, paired fin spines with the pectoral fin spines having a distinct longitudinal curvature. Although it is originally classified in order Climatiiformes The Climatiiformes is an order of extinct fish belonging to the class Acanthodii. Like most other "spiny sharks", the Climatiiformes had sharp spines. These animals were often fairly small in size and lived from the Late Silurian to the Early Car ..., but later study questioned this. References Acanthodii Prehistoric fish families {{Carboniferous-animal-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brachiopod
Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of trochozoan animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear end, while the front can be opened for feeding or closed for protection. Two major categories are traditionally recognized, articulate and inarticulate brachiopods. The word "articulate" is used to describe the tooth-and-groove structures of the valve-hinge which is present in the articulate group, and absent from the inarticulate group. This is the leading diagnostic skeletal feature, by which the two main groups can be readily distinguished as fossils. Articulate brachiopods have toothed hinges and simple, vertically-oriented opening and closing muscles. Conversely, inarticulate brachiopods have weak, untoothed hinges and a more complex system of vertical and oblique (diagonal) muscles used to keep the two valves aligned. In many brachiopods, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scolecodont
A scolecodont is the jaw of a polychaete annelid, a common type of fossil-producing segmented worm useful in invertebrate paleontology. Scolecodonts are common and diverse microfossils, which range from the Cambrian period (around half a billion years ago at the start of the Paleozoic era) to the present. They diversified profusely in the Ordovician, and are most common in the Ordovician, Silurian and Devonian marine deposits of the Paleozoic era. Relatedly, more problematic worm-like fossils have been described in even older, Neoproterozoic era deposits in the Ediacaran Hills of southern Australia and in mid-Cambrian deposits of Burgess shale in British Columbia. Since the other classes of annelids (specifically, the earthworms and leeches) lack hard parts, only the sea-dwelling polychaetes are frequently represented in the fossil record. Polychaetes are commonly fossilized due to their chitinous teeth and their dwelling tubes made of durable calcite (a calcium carbonate), ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polychaete
Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are made of chitin. More than 10,000 species are described in this class. Common representatives include the lugworm (''Arenicola marina'') and the sandworm or clam worm ''Alitta''. Polychaetes as a class are robust and widespread, with species that live in the coldest ocean temperatures of the abyssal plain, to forms which tolerate the extremely high temperatures near hydrothermal vents. Polychaetes occur throughout the Earth's oceans at all depths, from forms that live as plankton near the surface, to a 2- to 3-cm specimen (still unclassified) observed by the robot ocean probe ''Nereus'' at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest known spot in the Earth's oceans. Only 168 species (less than 2% of all polychaetes) are known from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crinoid
Crinoids are marine animals that make up the Class (biology), class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms are called feather stars or comatulids, which are members of the largest crinoid Order (biology), order, Comatulida. Crinoids are Echinoderm, echinoderms in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes the starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as . Adult crinoids are characterised by having the mouth located on the upper surface. This is surrounded by feeding arms, and is linked to a U-shaped gut, with the anus being located on the oral disc near the mouth. Although the basic echinoderm pattern of fivefold symmetry can be recognised, in most crinoids the five arms are subdivided into ten or more. These have feathery pinnules and are spread wide to gather planktonic particles from the water. At som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthropod
Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arthropod cuticle, cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate. The arthropod body plan consists of segments, each with a pair of appendages. Arthropods are bilaterally symmetrical and their body possesses an exoskeleton, external skeleton. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. Some species have wings. They are an extremely diverse group, with up to 10 million species. The haemocoel, an arthropod's internal cavity, through which its haemolymph – analogue of blood – circulates, accommodates its interior Organ (anatomy), organs; it has an open circulatory system. Like their exteriors, the internal or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostracod
Ostracods, or ostracodes, are a class of the Crustacea (class Ostracoda), sometimes known as seed shrimp. Some 70,000 species (only 13,000 of which are extant) have been identified, grouped into several orders. They are small crustaceans, typically around in size, but varying from in the case of '' Gigantocypris''. Their bodies are flattened from side to side and protected by a bivalve-like, chitinous or calcareous valve or "shell". The hinge of the two valves is in the upper (dorsal) region of the body. Ostracods are grouped together based on gross morphology. While early work indicated the group may not be monophyletic and early molecular phylogeny was ambiguous on this front, recent combined analyses of molecular and morphological data found support for monophyly in analyses with broadest taxon sampling. Ecologically, marine ostracods can be part of the zooplankton or (most commonly) are part of the benthos, living on or inside the upper layer of the sea floor. While Myod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holonematidae
Holonematidae is an extinct family of relatively large arthrodire placoderms from the Early to Late Devonian. Almost all fossil specimens are of armor fragments, though, all have distinctive ornamentation, often of unique arrangements and patterns of tubercles, that are diagnostic of the family. The trunkshield is very elongated, giving the armor an overall "barrel" like appearance. Due to pebbles found inside articulated specimens of the Frasnian species, ''Holonema westolli'', holonematids are thought to have been specialized herbivores that grazed on a form of horn-shaped, stony algae called "onycholite," snipping off the tips with their odd snouts. Genera ''Artesonema'' A poorly known genus from the Givetian-aged Blacourt Formation of Boulonnais, France.LELIEVRE, n.; GOUJET, D., BLIECK, A. & JANVIER, P. 1986. ''Poissons du DEvonien du Boutonnais (France)''. - n:BRICE, D. d.Le DEvonien de Ferques, Bas -Boulonnais (N. France) - Biostratigraphie du PalEozoique 7: 503-52 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Onychodontiformes
Onychodontiformes (also known as Onychodontida and Struniiformes) is an order of prehistoric sarcopterygian fish that lived during the Devonian period. The onychodontiforms are generally regarded as early-diverging members of the coelacanth lineage. Phylogeny The following cladogram is adapted from Mondéjar-Fernández (2020). The study recovered Onychodontiformes as a paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ... group, which is shown in green: References External links Onychodontiformes at Palaeos Prehistoric lobe-finned fish Prehistoric fish orders Devonian bony fish Early Devonian first appearances Famennian extinctions Paraphyletic groups {{paleo-lobefinned-fish-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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