Constellaria

Constellaria is an extinct genus of bryozoan from the Middle Ordovician to Early Silurian from North America, Asia and Europe. These branching coral-like bryozoans formed bushy colonies 10–15 mm across on the seabed. The fairly thick branches were erect, often compressed in one direction, and covered with distinctive tiny, star-shaped mounds called maculae or monticules. Feeding zoids were located along the rays of the stars. The maculae probably formed "chimneys" for the expulsion of exhalant feeding currents from the surface of a colony, after water had been filtered to obtain food for the organisms.

Constellaria

Wilson44691 · CC0 · 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
ConstellariidaePBDB
Diet
detritivorePBDB
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB
Motility
stationary, attached, epibiontPBDB
Vision
blindPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 31 million years on record.

The record covers at least 458.2 Mya to 426.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 471.3 Mya to 422.7 Mya.

Ordovician — about 141 of 142 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 1 of 142 occurrencesSilurian472–471 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences471–469 Mya — about 2 occurrences469–467 Mya — about 2 occurrences467–466 Mya — about 2 occurrences466–464 Mya — about 2 occurrences464–462 Mya — about 2 occurrences462–460 Mya — about 2 occurrences460–459 Mya — about 2 occurrences459–457 Mya — about 6 occurrences457–455 Mya — about 14 occurrences455–454 Mya — about 14 occurrences454–452 Mya — about 25 occurrences452–450 Mya — about 23 occurrences450–449 Mya — about 36 occurrences449–447 Mya — about 5 occurrences447–445 Mya — about 5 occurrences445–444 Mya — about 1 occurrence444–442 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences427–425 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences425–423 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences423–422 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences458.2 Mya426.7 Mya472 Mya422 Mya

142 occurrences of Constellaria 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

142 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

36 formations

Catheys — 35.62°N, 87.10°WCatheys — 35.18°N, 86.99°WCatheys — 35.50°N, 86.50°WCatheys — 36.32°N, 85.94°WCatheys — 36.37°N, 85.65°WLexington Limestone — 38.00°N, 84.67°WLexington Limestone — 38.23°N, 84.85°WLexington Limestone — 38.34°N, 84.85°WLexington Limestone — 37.94°N, 84.14°WFairview — 39.00°N, 84.00°WFairview — 39.01°N, 84.45°WFairview — 39.03°N, 84.51°WFairview — 39.30°N, 84.40°WFairview — 38.68°N, 83.79°WMingan — 50.20°N, 63.30°WMingan — 50.20°N, 63.35°WMingan — 50.22°N, 63.68°WMingan — 50.22°N, 64.20°WLeipers — 35.18°N, 86.99°WLeipers — 36.30°N, 86.65°WLeipers — 35.50°N, 86.50°WWaynesville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WWaynesville — 41.00°N, 86.69°WBigby-Cannon Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WClays Ferry — 38.00°N, 84.67°WClays Ferry — 37.88°N, 84.34°WClays Ferry — 37.93°N, 84.14°WHolston — 35.92°N, 83.97°WHolston — 35.87°N, 84.07°WHolston — 36.33°N, 83.17°WCalloway Creek — 37.59°N, 85.07°WCalloway Creek — 37.46°N, 84.82°WCalloway Creek — 37.66°N, 85.17°WKope — 39.00°N, 84.00°WLiberty — 41.00°N, 86.69°WLiberty — 39.48°N, 84.06°WVasalemma — 59.28°N, 24.65°EVasalemma — 59.24°N, 24.32°EWhitewater — 39.00°N, 84.00°WElkhorn — 39.00°N, 84.00°WPierce Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WRidley Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WHermitage — 35.50°N, 86.50°WMannie — 35.50°N, 86.50°WLexington Ls — 37.65°N, 84.77°WCummingsville — 43.50°N, 91.50°WLexington — 37.65°N, 84.77°WMount Auburn — 38.50°N, 83.76°WChokusu — 49.13°N, 88.37°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Constellaria has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 12 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 24 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Constellaria and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Constellaria and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

655 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 111 sites for Constellaria, 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 142 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 Constellaria

Credit
Wilson44691
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Photogrammetry

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
constellaria sp. · MST:PALEO:MST-SP-2339

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 itConstellariidae through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Dana 1846