Meristella

Meristella is an extinct genus of brachiopods found from the Late Silurian to the Late Devonian. They are characterized by a smooth oval shell and a prominent incurved beak on the pedicle valve. Meristella is placed in the family Meristellidae of the articulate brachiopod order Athyridida.

Meristella

Internet Archive Book Images · No restrictions · 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
MeristellinaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Athyrididina
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Athyrididina
Motility
stationaryPBDB, for Athyrididina
Vision
blindPBDB, for Rhynchonellata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 77 million years on record.

The record covers at least 443.1 Mya to 365.2 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 445.2 Mya to 358.86 Mya.

Ordovician — about 3 of 236 occurrencesSilurian — about 9 of 236 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 224 of 236 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 0 of 236 occurrences447–444 Mya — about 2 occurrences444–441 Mya — about 1 occurrence441–438 Mya — about 1 occurrence438–435 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences435–432 Mya — about 1 occurrence432–429 Mya — about 2 occurrences429–426 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences426–423 Mya — about 2 occurrences423–420 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences420–417 Mya — about 23 occurrences417–414 Mya — about 22 occurrences414–411 Mya — about 30 occurrences411–408 Mya — about 8 occurrences408–405 Mya — about 5 occurrences405–402 Mya — about 5 occurrences402–399 Mya — about 5 occurrences399–396 Mya — about 6 occurrences396–393 Mya — about 8 occurrences393–390 Mya — about 22 occurrences390–387 Mya — about 27 occurrences387–384 Mya — about 39 occurrences384–381 Mya — about 23 occurrences381–378 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences378–375 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences375–372 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences372–369 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences369–366 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences366–363 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences363–360 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences360–357 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences443.1 Mya365.2 Mya447 Mya357 Mya

236 occurrences of Meristella on record, most of them in the Devonian. 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

236 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

67 formations

Ludlowville — 42.86°N, 77.76°WLudlowville — 42.87°N, 77.88°WLudlowville — 42.83°N, 77.81°WLudlowville — 42.88°N, 78.57°WLudlowville — 42.96°N, 78.13°WLudlowville — 42.80°N, 77.27°WLudlowville — 42.78°N, 76.99°WLudlowville — 42.77°N, 76.71°WLudlowville — 42.73°N, 76.71°WLudlowville — 42.89°N, 76.75°WLudlowville — 42.76°N, 76.47°WRabbit Hill Limestone — 39.20°N, 116.42°WRabbit Hill Limestone — 38.92°N, 116.50°WMoscow — 42.70°N, 78.95°WMoscow — 42.90°N, 78.04°WMoscow — 42.81°N, 77.90°WMoscow — 42.75°N, 77.01°WMoscow — 42.83°N, 75.78°WMoscow — 42.79°N, 76.15°WMoscow — 42.77°N, 77.83°WMoscow — 42.82°N, 77.57°WAmherstburg — 43.98°N, 81.28°WOnondaga — 42.95°N, 76.17°WOnondaga — 42.92°N, 78.25°WOnondaga — 42.78°N, 74.33°WMcColley Canyon — 40.13°N, 116.10°WMcColley Canyon — 40.16°N, 116.06°WMcColley Canyon — 40.13°N, 116.02°WMcColley Canyon — 39.93°N, 116.30°WMcColley Canyon — 39.60°N, 116.26°WKalkberg — 42.84°N, 74.75°WKalkberg — 42.86°N, 74.81°WKalkberg — 42.89°N, 74.97°WCoeymans — 42.86°N, 74.80°WCoeymans — 42.91°N, 74.87°WHaragan — 34.48°N, 96.50°WJaycox — 42.88°N, 78.02°WJaycox — 42.85°N, 77.83°WJaycox — 42.89°N, 77.70°WJaycox — 42.82°N, 77.29°WJaycox — 42.76°N, 76.97°WSkaneateles — 42.98°N, 76.34°WSkaneateles — 42.93°N, 76.22°WSkaneateles — 42.98°N, 76.09°WSkaneateles — 42.93°N, 76.07°WTully — 42.79°N, 75.80°WTully — 42.74°N, 75.88°WWinnipegosis — 52.97°N, 100.90°WWinnipegosis — 52.92°N, 100.97°WRoberts Mountain — 39.94°N, 116.32°WHidden Valley Dolomite — 36.61°N, 117.36°WHidden Valley Dolomite — 36.35°N, 116.55°WHidden Valley Dolomite — 36.35°N, 116.55°WGydo — 33.52°S, 24.74°EGydo — 33.33°S, 19.37°EKuldiga — 57.22°N, 21.60°EKeyser Limestone — 39.64°N, 77.66°WMount Ida — 36.77°S, 144.77°ELandevennec — 48.35°N, 4.43°WLandevennec — 48.20°N, 4.08°WCano del Oeste — 10.50°N, 72.50°WOatka — 42.60°N, 74.33°WMarcellus — 42.51°N, 74.05°WMarcellus — 41.97°N, 74.00°WWadleigh Limestone — 55.49°N, 132.36°W

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The named rock units Meristella has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 43 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 15 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Meristella and its relatives

Devonian

Where Meristella and its relatives were recorded in the Devonian.

Found in the same rock

1,449 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 197 sites for Meristella, 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

64 references

Each of the 236 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. 52 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 Meristella

Credit
Internet Archive Book Images
Licence
No restrictions
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

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

Everything alive alongside itMeristellinae through timeFormations of the DevonianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.