Nicholsonella

Nicholsonella is an extinct genus of bryozoans of uncertain taxonomic placement. Its colonies can take the forms of thick branching masses or branches.

Nicholsonella

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
AmplexoporinaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB, for Bryozoa
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Vision
blindPBDB, for Stenolaemata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 40 million years on record.

The record covers at least 471.3 Mya to 430.6 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 486.85 Mya to 422.7 Mya.

Cambrian — about 0 of 90 occurrencesOrdovician — about 88 of 90 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 2 of 90 occurrencesSilurian488–486 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences486–484 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences484–481 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences481–479 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences479–477 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences477–475 Mya — about 2 occurrences475–473 Mya — about 2 occurrences473–470 Mya — about 4 occurrences470–468 Mya — about 5 occurrences468–466 Mya — about 3 occurrences466–464 Mya — about 3 occurrences464–461 Mya — about 3 occurrences461–459 Mya — about 3 occurrences459–457 Mya — about 7 occurrences457–455 Mya — about 14 occurrences455–453 Mya — about 14 occurrences453–450 Mya — about 14 occurrences450–448 Mya — about 7 occurrences448–446 Mya — about 3 occurrences446–444 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences444–441 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences441–439 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences439–437 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences437–435 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences435–433 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences433–430 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences430–428 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences428–426 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences426–424 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences424–421 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences471.3 Mya430.6 Mya488 Mya421 Mya

90 occurrences of Nicholsonella 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

90 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

40 formations

Bobcaygeon — 44.67°N, 78.80°WBobcaygeon — 44.53°N, 78.55°WCrown Point — 44.87°N, 73.41°WCrown Point — 44.87°N, 73.45°WCrown Point — 44.86°N, 73.33°WBromide — 34.00°N, 97.00°WBromide — 34.48°N, 96.97°WMingan — 50.20°N, 63.67°WMingan — 50.22°N, 63.79°WMingan — 50.21°N, 64.13°WMingan — 50.32°N, 64.05°WHonghuayuan — 28.00°N, 107.00°EHonghuayuan — 29.00°N, 107.00°EHonghuayuan — 32.00°N, 119.00°EHonghuayuan — 32.00°N, 118.00°EBenbolt — 37.10°N, 81.34°WBenbolt — 37.00°N, 81.00°WBenbolt — 37.02°N, 81.63°WHolston — 35.92°N, 83.97°WHolston — 35.87°N, 84.07°WSan Juan — 31.00°S, 69.00°WSan Juan — 30.00°S, 69.00°WCliffield — 37.10°N, 81.34°WCliffield — 37.13°N, 81.50°WCliffield — 37.08°N, 81.71°WDay Point — 44.86°N, 73.33°WDay Point — 44.89°N, 73.44°WMurfreesboro Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WPierce Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WRidley Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WLebanon Limestone — 35.50°N, 86.50°WGuttenberg — 42.50°N, 91.25°WGabian — 43.52°N, 3.25°EValcour — 44.86°N, 73.33°WRomaine — 50.23°N, 63.62°WBellevue — 39.00°N, 84.00°WMount Auburn — 39.00°N, 84.00°WArnheim — 39.00°N, 84.00°WCatheys — 35.50°N, 86.50°WIrondequoit — 43.12°N, 79.07°WMuch Wenlock Limestone — 52.50°N, 2.08°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Nicholsonella has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 16 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Nicholsonella and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Nicholsonella and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

808 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 70 sites for Nicholsonella, 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

33 references

Each of the 90 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. 21 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 Nicholsonella

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

No 3D scan of Nicholsonella was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were 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 itAmplexoporina through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Ulrich 1890