Ptilodictya

Ptilodictya is an extinct genus of bryozoan of the family Ptilodictyidae. It formed bifoliate branched colonies, with branches ranging from under 1 to 3 mm wide. Colonies' autozooecia are rectangular and autozooecial apertures are in the shape of rounded rectangles.

Ptilodictya

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
PtilodictyidaePBDB
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 69 million years on record.

The record covers at least 457.3 Mya to 387.95 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 471.3 Mya to 382.31 Mya.

Ordovician — about 40 of 79 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 38 of 79 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 1 of 79 occurrencesDevonian473–470 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences470–467 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences467–464 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences464–461 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences461–458 Mya — about 1 occurrence458–455 Mya — about 3 occurrences455–451 Mya — about 3 occurrences451–448 Mya — about 6 occurrences448–445 Mya — about 10 occurrences445–442 Mya — about 14 occurrences442–439 Mya — about 4 occurrences439–436 Mya — about 5 occurrences436–433 Mya — about 5 occurrences433–430 Mya — about 9 occurrences430–427 Mya — about 2 occurrences427–424 Mya — about 7 occurrences424–421 Mya — about 4 occurrences421–418 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences390–387 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences387–384 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences384–381 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences457.3 Mya387.95 Mya473 Mya381 Mya

79 occurrences of Ptilodictya 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

79 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

46 formations

Pin — 32.02°N, 78.05°EWenallt — 51.83°N, 3.58°WUpper Bringewood — 52.00°N, 3.00°WKhaastyrka — 67.32°N, 103.85°EKhaastyrka — 67.33°N, 104.85°EKhaastyrka — 67.34°N, 103.88°ESt. Peter Sandstone — 44.98°N, 93.26°WSt. Peter Sandstone — 44.92°N, 93.02°WSlite Beds — 57.72°N, 18.80°EHalla Beds — 57.53°N, 18.43°EEke Beds — 57.17°N, 18.38°ESteinsfjorden — 68.79°N, 14.95°ESaelabonn — 60.17°N, 10.30°EWether Law Linn — 55.81°N, 3.37°WChicotte — 49.40°N, 63.60°WLoka — 58.57°N, 15.07°EVauréal — 49.67°N, 63.00°WVaureal — 49.67°N, 62.92°WKunlein — 22.22°N, 98.34°EKunlein — 22.93°N, 97.30°ESunblood — 62.00°N, 126.00°WWhitewater — 39.00°N, 84.00°WEl Castro — 43.63°N, 5.83°WWenchang — 29.00°N, 119.00°EDolhir — 52.93°N, 3.18°WUpper Visby — 57.63°N, 18.30°EKlinteberg Beds — 57.53°N, 18.43°EHemse Beds — 57.37°N, 18.69°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ptilodictya has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 22 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 7 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ptilodictya and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Ptilodictya and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

1,096 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 64 sites for Ptilodictya, 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

35 references

Each of the 79 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. 23 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 Ptilodictya

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.

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 itPtilodictyidae through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lonsdale 1839