Craniidae

The Craniidae are a family of brachiopods, the only surviving members of the subphylum Craniiformea. They are the only members of the order Craniida, the monotypic suborder Craniidina, and the superfamily Cranioidea; consequently, the latter two taxa are at present redundant and rarely used. There are three living genera within Craniidae: Neoancistrocrania, Novocrania, and Valdiviathyris. As adults, craniids either live freely on the ocean floor or, more commonly, cement themselves onto a hard object with all or part of the ventral valve.

Craniidae

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
CranioideaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Craniida
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Craniida
Motility
stationaryPBDB, for Craniida
Vision
blindPBDB, for Craniata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Craniata

Time the record covers

At least 477 million years on record.

The record covers at least 477.1 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 0 Mya.

Cambrian — about 0 of 949 occurrencesOrdovician — about 341 of 949 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 32 of 949 occurrencesDevonian — about 131 of 949 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 73 of 949 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 159 of 949 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 1 of 949 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 2 of 949 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 6 of 949 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 0 of 949 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 2 of 949 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 9 of 949 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 11 of 949 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 89 of 949 occurrencesPaleocene — about 35 of 949 occurrencesEocene — about 16 of 949 occurrencesOligocene — about 4 of 949 occurrencesMiocene — about 21 of 949 occurrencesPliocene — about 7 of 949 occurrencesPleistocene — about 9 of 949 occurrences497–480 Mya — about 2 occurrences480–463 Mya — about 52 occurrences463–447 Mya — about 238 occurrences447–430 Mya — about 76 occurrences430–414 Mya — about 7 occurrences414–397 Mya — about 11 occurrences397–381 Mya — about 69 occurrences381–364 Mya — about 19 occurrences364–348 Mya — about 42 occurrences348–331 Mya — about 20 occurrences331–315 Mya — about 12 occurrences315–298 Mya — about 33 occurrences298–281 Mya — about 30 occurrences281–265 Mya — about 104 occurrences265–248 Mya — about 22 occurrences248–232 Mya — about 6 occurrences232–215 Mya — about 2 occurrences215–199 Mya — about 1 occurrence182–166 Mya — about 2 occurrences166–149 Mya — about 9 occurrences149–132 Mya — about 8 occurrences132–116 Mya — about 2 occurrences116–99 Mya — about 1 occurrence99–83 Mya — about 10 occurrences83–66 Mya — about 77 occurrences66–50 Mya — about 41 occurrences50–33 Mya — about 12 occurrences33–17 Mya — about 7 occurrences17–0 Mya — about 35 occurrences477.1 Mya11.7 ka497 Mya0 Mya

949 occurrences of Craniidae on record, most of them in the Ordovician. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. 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

949 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

260 formations

Volkhov — 59.97°N, 32.57°EVolkhov — 59.82°N, 32.20°EBell Canyon — 31.92°N, 104.78°WBell Canyon — 31.80°N, 104.78°WBell Canyon — 32.01°N, 104.72°WWaynesville — 39.45°N, 83.83°WWaynesville — 39.00°N, 84.00°WWaynesville — 39.35°N, 85.10°WWaynesville — 39.44°N, 84.98°WWaynesville — 39.34°N, 84.95°WWaynesville — 39.48°N, 84.06°WWaynesville — 39.36°N, 84.36°WRoad Canyon — 30.38°N, 103.16°WRoad Canyon — 30.39°N, 103.14°WRoad Canyon — 30.30°N, 103.34°WRoad Canyon — 30.35°N, 103.27°WRoad Canyon — 30.22°N, 103.44°WSappington — 46.01°N, 112.54°WSappington — 46.21°N, 111.04°WSappington — 46.13°N, 111.36°WSappington — 45.96°N, 111.42°WSappington — 45.93°N, 111.32°WSappington — 45.96°N, 111.54°WSappington — 45.88°N, 111.67°WSappington — 45.91°N, 111.96°WSappington — 45.78°N, 111.73°WSappington — 45.78°N, 111.81°WSappington — 45.91°N, 110.96°WSappington — 45.17°N, 111.79°WSappington — 41.65°N, 111.71°WSappington — 45.20°N, 111.96°WWord — 30.39°N, 103.18°WWord — 30.40°N, 103.14°WWord — 30.34°N, 103.30°WWord — 30.23°N, 103.44°WCiply-Malogne Phosphatic Chalk — 50.42°N, 3.94°ECathedral Mountain — 30.41°N, 103.11°WCathedral Mountain — 30.25°N, 103.37°WCathedral Mountain — 30.31°N, 103.29°WCathedral Mountain — 30.39°N, 103.16°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 77.90°WMoscow — 42.75°N, 77.01°WMoscow — 42.67°N, 76.73°WMoscow — 42.79°N, 76.15°WMoscow — 42.83°N, 75.99°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 75.91°WMoscow — 42.59°N, 75.18°WMoscow — 42.69°N, 75.60°WMoscow — 42.52°N, 74.86°WMoscow — 42.57°N, 74.75°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.83°WDunleith — 42.02°N, 93.45°WDunleith — 42.00°N, 90.50°WLudlowville — 42.76°N, 78.65°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 78.79°WLudlowville — 42.96°N, 78.13°WLudlowville — 42.83°N, 77.84°WLudlowville — 42.87°N, 75.71°WLudlowville — 42.76°N, 76.47°WLudlowville — 42.74°N, 75.53°WSilica — 41.72°N, 83.72°WSilica — 41.12°N, 84.85°WNeal Ranch — 30.36°N, 103.13°WNeal Ranch — 30.35°N, 103.15°WKope — 39.00°N, 84.00°WKope — 39.01°N, 84.45°WKope — 38.68°N, 83.79°WCherry Canyon — 31.86°N, 104.82°WCherry Canyon — 31.87°N, 104.87°WBeattie — 39.24°N, 96.60°WBeattie — 39.10°N, 96.64°WBeattie — 39.44°N, 96.13°WBeattie — 39.38°N, 96.39°WBeattie — 39.42°N, 95.97°WBeattie — 37.53°N, 96.49°WBeattie — 37.37°N, 96.54°WLouisiana Limestone — 39.45°N, 91.05°WLouisiana Limestone — 39.37°N, 90.90°WForaker Limestome — 39.39°N, 96.41°WForaker Limestome — 39.25°N, 96.57°WForaker Limestome — 39.07°N, 96.18°WForaker Limestome — 39.49°N, 96.27°WBromide — 34.00°N, 97.00°WRat Buri — 7.38°N, 99.30°EBone Spring — 31.35°N, 104.86°WBone Spring — 31.35°N, 104.86°WHolen — 57.23°N, 16.96°EHolen — 57.15°N, 16.92°EHolen — 57.00°N, 16.82°EHolen — 57.29°N, 16.96°EBellevue — 38.87°N, 84.46°WBellevue — 39.00°N, 84.00°WBellevue — 39.17°N, 84.12°WBellevue — 38.68°N, 83.79°WFairview — 39.00°N, 84.00°WFairview — 39.01°N, 84.45°WFairview — 39.03°N, 84.51°WFairview — 38.68°N, 83.79°W

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The named rock units Craniidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 236 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 169 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Craniidae and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Craniidae and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

2,862 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 731 sites for Craniidae, and this reads 240 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

241 references

Each of the 949 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. 229 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 content1

Picture of Craniidae

Credit
Wilson44691
Licence
CC0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Craniidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itCranioidea through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Menke 1828