Protorthis

Protorthis

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
ProtorthidaePBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB, for Brachiopoda
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Brachiopoda
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB, for Brachiopoda
Vision
blindPBDB, for Rhynchonellata
Environment
marinePBDB, for Lophophorata

Time the record covers

At least 19 million years on record.

The record covers at least 497 Mya to 477.1 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 504.5 Mya to 468 Mya.

Cambrian — about 2 of 5 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 3 of 5 occurrencesOrdovician505–504 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences504–503 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences503–501 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences501–500 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences500–499 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences499–498 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences498–496 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences496–495 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences495–494 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences494–493 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences493–491 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences491–490 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences490–489 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences489–488 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences488–486 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences486–485 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences485–484 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences484–482 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences482–481 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences481–480 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences480–479 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences479–477 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences477–476 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences476–475 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences475–474 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences474–472 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences472–471 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences471–470 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences470–469 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences469–467 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences497 Mya477.1 Mya505.2 Mya467.3 Mya

5 occurrences of Protorthis 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

5 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

2 formations

St. Albans Shale — 44.48°N, 73.21°WSkeels Corner Slate — 44.78°N, 73.11°W

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The named rock units Protorthis has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Protorthis and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Protorthis and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

87 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 5 sites for Protorthis, 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

3 references

Each of the 5 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. Each entry links to the Paleobiology Database's own record for the work.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Protorthis

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

No 3D scan was found. Smithsonian Open Access, MorphoSource and Sketchfab were all searched.

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itProtorthidae through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0.