Graptolithina

Graptolites are a group of colonial animals, members of the subclass Graptolithina within the class Pterobranchia. These filter-feeding organisms are known chiefly from fossils found from the Middle Cambrian through the Lower Carboniferous (Mississippian). A possible early graptolite, Chaunograptus, is known from the Middle Cambrian. Recent analyses have favored the idea that the living pterobranch Rhabdopleura represents an extant graptolite which diverged from the rest of the group in the Cambrian.

Graptolithina

Grezmagro · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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
Also called
graptolitePBDB
Sits inside
PterobranchiaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
planktonicPBDB
Motility
passively mobilePBDB
Vision
blindPBDB

Time the record covers

At least 157 million years on record.

The record covers at least 504.5 Mya to 346.7 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 508.2 Mya to 339.9 Mya.

Cambrian — about 49 of 8119 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 5399 of 8119 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 2361 of 8119 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 308 of 8119 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 1 of 8119 occurrencesCarboniferous512–506 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences506–500 Mya — about 7 occurrences500–494 Mya — about 19 occurrences494–488 Mya — about 17 occurrences488–482 Mya — about 265 occurrences482–477 Mya — about 475 occurrences477–471 Mya — about 840 occurrences471–465 Mya — about 767 occurrences465–459 Mya — about 568 occurrences459–453 Mya — about 715 occurrences453–447 Mya — about 992 occurrences447–442 Mya — about 1112 occurrences442–436 Mya — about 889 occurrences436–430 Mya — about 464 occurrences430–424 Mya — about 380 occurrences424–418 Mya — about 343 occurrences418–412 Mya — about 176 occurrences412–407 Mya — about 38 occurrences407–401 Mya — about 15 occurrences401–395 Mya — about 16 occurrences395–389 Mya — about 8 occurrences389–383 Mya — about 8 occurrences383–377 Mya — about 2 occurrences377–372 Mya — about 1 occurrence348–342 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences342–337 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences504.5 Mya346.7 Mya512 Mya337 Mya

8,119 occurrences of Graptolithina on record, most of them in the Ordovician. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. 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

8,119 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

678 formations

Phi Kappa — 43.84°N, 114.27°WPhi Kappa — 43.85°N, 114.18°WVinini — 39.87°N, 116.23°WWufeng — 33.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 109.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 28.00°N, 109.00°EWufeng — 27.00°N, 105.00°EWufeng — 31.00°N, 107.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 108.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 108.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 106.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 110.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 112.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 31.00°N, 111.00°EWufeng — 29.00°N, 115.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 118.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 117.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 116.00°EWufeng — 32.00°N, 119.00°EWufeng — 33.00°N, 106.00°EWufeng — 30.00°N, 103.00°EWufeng — 27.60°N, 105.42°EWufeng — 31.86°N, 111.86°ELower Road River — 68.17°N, 137.00°WLower Road River — 62.47°N, 129.07°WLower Road River — 65.40°N, 137.38°WLower Road River — 66.17°N, 136.08°WLower Road River — 65.88°N, 135.67°WAorangi Mine — 40.68°S, 172.68°EAorangi Mine — 40.60°S, 172.56°EAorangi Mine — 40.72°S, 172.45°EAorangi Mine — 41.99°S, 172.16°EAorangi Mine — 41.67°S, 172.39°EAorangi Mine — 41.75°S, 171.65°ERoad River — 64.50°N, 130.00°WRoad River — 62.64°N, 124.97°WRoad River — 68.17°N, 137.00°WRoad River — 65.35°N, 133.50°WRoad River — 66.73°N, 135.77°WRoad River — 66.60°N, 135.55°WRoad River — 65.93°N, 135.90°WRoad River — 65.47°N, 138.22°WRoad River — 64.76°N, 135.17°WRoad River — 62.12°N, 126.68°WRoad River — 61.63°N, 125.73°WRoad River — 62.47°N, 129.07°WRoad River — 62.42°N, 127.25°WRoad River — 61.70°N, 125.55°WRoad River — 65.38°N, 134.18°WRoad River — 65.05°N, 135.15°WRoad River — 65.28°N, 135.70°WRoad River — 65.22°N, 136.68°WRoad River — 65.40°N, 137.38°WRoad River — 65.48°N, 139.15°WRoad River — 64.92°N, 139.58°WRoad River — 65.38°N, 140.30°WRoad River — 66.17°N, 136.08°WRoad River — 66.42°N, 135.53°WRoad River — 67.57°N, 138.17°WRoad River — 68.40°N, 138.12°WRoad River — 66.47°N, 135.60°WRoad River — 64.92°N, 140.99°WNingguo — 29.00°N, 115.00°ENingguo — 28.00°N, 118.00°ENingguo — 30.00°N, 120.00°ENingguo — 30.00°N, 119.00°ENingguo — 29.00°N, 119.00°ERoad River — 64.95°N, 141.04°WRoad River — 64.96°N, 141.21°WRoad River — 65.19°N, 141.32°WRoad River — 65.35°N, 141.05°WRoad River — 65.27°N, 141.63°WRoad River — 65.96°N, 141.20°WLeslie — 41.14°S, 172.59°ELeslie — 41.09°S, 172.54°ETuloi — 52.22°N, 87.01°ETuloi — 52.02°N, 87.12°ERollston Range — 20.53°S, 146.43°EDescon — 55.63°N, 133.57°WDescon — 55.52°N, 133.30°WDescon — 55.50°N, 133.62°WAcoite — 24.00°S, 66.00°WAcoite — 22.30°S, 65.30°WAcoite — 22.00°S, 66.00°WAcoite — 23.60°S, 65.69°WAcoite — 23.55°S, 65.67°WAcoite — 23.19°S, 65.72°WAcoite — 23.26°S, 65.64°WAcoite — 23.08°S, 65.70°WAcoite — 23.67°S, 65.69°WAcoite — 22.99°S, 65.70°WAcoite — 22.10°S, 65.49°WVoskresenka — 51.17°N, 82.05°EVoskresenka — 51.61°N, 82.94°EVoskresenka — 51.62°N, 82.62°EPeel — 41.14°S, 172.59°EPeel — 41.09°S, 172.54°EDawan — 33.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 28.00°N, 109.00°EDawan — 32.00°N, 108.00°EDawan — 29.00°N, 109.00°EDawan — 30.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 31.00°N, 111.00°EDawan — 27.00°N, 101.00°EDawan — 32.00°N, 118.00°EDawan — 30.00°N, 116.00°EDawan — 30.86°N, 110.37°EPozary — 49.93°N, 14.18°EPozary — 50.00°N, 14.35°EPozary — 49.90°N, 14.02°EPozary — 49.95°N, 12.93°EPozary — 50.03°N, 14.42°EPozary — 50.08°N, 14.47°EPozary — 49.52°N, 13.50°EPozary — 49.15°N, 13.57°EMeitan — 28.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 29.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 27.00°N, 107.00°EMeitan — 27.00°N, 105.00°EMeitan — 29.00°N, 109.00°EMeitan — 28.00°N, 105.00°EHule — 29.00°N, 115.00°EHule — 28.00°N, 118.00°EHule — 29.00°N, 119.00°EHule — 31.00°N, 120.00°EHule — 30.00°N, 120.00°EYinGan — 41.00°N, 79.00°EYinGan — 40.64°N, 79.50°EOued Ali — 29.00°N, 3.00°WOued Ali — 29.55°N, 2.13°WOued Ali — 29.65°N, 2.28°WOued Ali — 29.75°N, 2.28°WOued Ali — 30.02°N, 2.08°WKaradere — 41.27°N, 33.08°EKaradere — 41.35°N, 33.03°ECape Phillips — 75.13°N, 95.00°WCape Phillips — 73.38°N, 99.07°WCape Phillips — 75.87°N, 94.58°WCape Phillips — 75.18°N, 93.93°WCape Phillips — 75.88°N, 94.80°WCape Phillips — 76.70°N, 96.88°WCape Phillips — 75.18°N, 94.03°WCape Phillips — 75.43°N, 94.33°WCape Phillips — 75.14°N, 93.62°WCape Phillips — 78.53°N, 83.32°WLochkov — 49.93°N, 14.18°ELochkov — 50.08°N, 14.47°ELochkov — 49.50°N, 14.33°ELochkov — 49.98°N, 14.33°ELochkov — 50.00°N, 14.35°E

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The named rock units Graptolithina has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 654 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 1,398 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Graptolithina and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Graptolithina and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

2,073 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 603 sites for Graptolithina, 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

604 references

Each of the 8,119 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. 592 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 Graptolithina

Credit
Grezmagro
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Graptolithina 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 itPterobranchia through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Bronn 1849)