''Eodictyonella'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

rhynchonelliform Rhynchonelliformea is a major subphylum and clade of brachiopods. It is roughly equivalent to the former Class (biology), class Articulata, which was used previously in brachiopod taxonomy up until the 1990s. These so-called articulated brachiop ...

brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of 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 fron ...

belonging to the extinct class

Chileata Chileata Wiliams ''et al.'', 1996 is a class of rhynchonelliform brachiopods, characterised, among others, by the presence of a perforation in the umbonal region of the ventral valve, usually (partly) covered by a colleplax. They are known from t ...

. It is characterised by a non-strophic shell covered by a net-like ornament (Greek ''dictyon'', a net). Like in most chileates, the perforation in the umbonal region of the ventral valve is covered by a

colleplax Colleplax – a structure present in chileate brachiopods Brachiopods (), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. B ...

. ''Eodictyonella'' is known from the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

to the Lower

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

. It had initially been described as ''Dictyonella'' Hall, 1868; however, this name proved to be a younger

homonym In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...

of ''Dictyonella'' Schmidt, 1868, a

sponge Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and a ...

, so has been replaced by ''Eodictyonella'' Wright, 1994. ''Eodictyonella'' belongs to the family Eichwaldiidae Schuchert, 1893 and to the order Dictyonellida Cooper, 1956. The latter is based on ''Eodictyonella'' under its former name. However, Dictyonellidae is a family of sponges. '' Isogramma'' belongs to the same order, but its external aspect is rather different from ''Eodictyonella''; ''Isogramma'' has a strophic shell.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q49000394 Brachiopod genera