Columnaria

Columnaria is an extinct genus of rugose coral that lived from the Late Ordovician to the Late Devonian. Its remains have been found in Australia, Europe, and North America.

Columnaria

via iDigBio · CC0 · 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
DisphyllidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Rugosa
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Rugosa
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Rugosa
Vision
blindPBDB, for Anthozoa
Environment
marinePBDB, for Rugosa

Time the record covers

At least 160 million years on record.

The record covers at least 453.8 Mya to 293.52 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 290.1 Mya.

Cambrian — about 0 of 71 occurrencesOrdovician — about 58 of 71 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 4 of 71 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 8 of 71 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 0 of 71 occurrencesPermian — about 1 of 71 occurrences491–484 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences484–477 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences477–470 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences470–464 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences464–457 Mya — about 4 occurrences457–450 Mya — about 25 occurrences450–443 Mya — about 28 occurrences443–436 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences436–429 Mya — about 1 occurrence429–423 Mya — about 2 occurrences423–416 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences416–409 Mya — about 1 occurrence388–382 Mya — about 4 occurrences382–375 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences375–368 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences300–293 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences293–286 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences453.8 Mya293.52 Mya491 Mya286 Mya

71 occurrences of Columnaria on record, most of them in the Ordovician. 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

32 formations

Wardell — 37.08°N, 81.55°WWardell — 37.10°N, 81.34°WWardell — 37.00°N, 81.00°WWardell — 37.02°N, 81.73°WWardell — 37.03°N, 81.79°WWardell — 37.06°N, 81.75°WArnheim — 39.00°N, 84.00°WArnheim — 35.50°N, 86.50°WArnheim — 35.38°N, 88.00°WCatheys — 35.50°N, 86.50°WCatheys — 35.82°N, 86.83°WElkhorn — 39.00°N, 84.00°WElkhorn — 39.77°N, 84.88°WMont Wissick — 47.67°N, 68.83°WFarr — 47.45°N, 79.65°WFarr — 47.42°N, 79.48°WFarr — 47.51°N, 79.53°WDrakes — 38.07°N, 85.53°WDrakes — 38.14°N, 85.41°WDrakes — 37.94°N, 85.46°WCarters Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WBigby-Cannon Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WGeorgian Bay — 43.67°N, 79.42°WGeorgian Bay — 45.75°N, 81.60°WChernaya Bay Horizon — 72.00°N, 52.00°EWhitewater — 46.02°N, 83.73°WWaynesville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WLiberty — 39.00°N, 84.00°WHermitage — 35.50°N, 86.50°WBobcaygeon — 44.53°N, 78.55°WBig Hill — 45.83°N, 86.95°WRichmond — 45.75°N, 86.83°WCombe Martin Slates — 51.20°N, 4.03°WBlacourt — 50.83°N, 1.77°EPortilla — 42.83°N, 1.57°EMostyn Vale — 30.88°S, 150.47°EHanson Creek — 39.00°N, 116.00°WKunzhak — 39.25°N, 69.00°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Columnaria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 8 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 13 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Columnaria and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Columnaria and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

711 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 61 sites for Columnaria, 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

27 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. 15 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 Columnaria

Source
iDigBio
Credit
via iDigBio
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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 itDisphyllidae through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Goldfuss 1826