Rhombifera

Cystoidea was defined as a class of extinct paleozoic blastozoan echinoderms established to encompass stalked taxa that were neither crinoids nor blastoids. It was shown to be polyphyletic in the late 1960s but continues to be used even in recent literature to discuss both rhombiferans and diploporitans.

Rhombifera

Ernst Haeckel · Public Domain · 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
BlastozoaPBDB
Diet
suspension feederPBDB
Life habit
intermediate-level epifaunalPBDB
Motility
stationary, attachedPBDB
Vision
blindPBDB
Environment
marinePBDB, for Echinodermata

Time the record covers

At least 117 million years on record.

The record covers at least 499.5 Mya to 382.31 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 506.5 Mya to 358.86 Mya.

Cambrian — about 8 of 796 occurrencesCambrianOrdovician — about 638 of 796 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 129 of 796 occurrencesSilurianDevonian — about 21 of 796 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 0 of 796 occurrences509–504 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences504–499 Mya — about 4 occurrences499–494 Mya — about 1 occurrence494–489 Mya — about 2 occurrences489–484 Mya — about 8 occurrences484–479 Mya — about 15 occurrences479–474 Mya — about 19 occurrences474–469 Mya — about 32 occurrences469–463 Mya — about 38 occurrences463–458 Mya — about 37 occurrences458–453 Mya — about 228 occurrences453–448 Mya — about 198 occurrences448–443 Mya — about 64 occurrences443–438 Mya — about 17 occurrences438–433 Mya — about 27 occurrences433–428 Mya — about 55 occurrences428–422 Mya — about 22 occurrences422–417 Mya — about 11 occurrences417–412 Mya — about 8 occurrences412–407 Mya — about 1 occurrence407–402 Mya — about 2 occurrences402–397 Mya — about 1 occurrence397–392 Mya — about 1 occurrence392–387 Mya — about 2 occurrences387–381 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences381–376 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences376–371 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences371–366 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences366–361 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences361–356 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences499.5 Mya382.31 Mya509 Mya356 Mya

796 occurrences of Rhombifera 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

796 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

237 formations

Bromide — 34.00°N, 97.00°WBromide — 34.45°N, 97.17°WBromide — 34.41°N, 96.98°WBromide — 34.07°N, 97.17°WBromide — 34.03°N, 97.17°WBromide — 34.46°N, 96.52°WDalby Limestone — 60.92°N, 15.09°EDalby Limestone — 61.05°N, 15.20°EDalby Limestone — 60.97°N, 15.15°EDalby Limestone — 57.20°N, 17.05°EDalby Limestone — 56.68°N, 16.68°EDalby Limestone — 58.37°N, 14.72°EDalby Limestone — 57.30°N, 16.33°EDalby Limestone — 61.33°N, 14.55°EDalby Limestone — 62.97°N, 14.48°EDalby Limestone — 61.13°N, 14.70°EDalby Limestone — 61.19°N, 14.87°EDalby Limestone — 60.92°N, 14.62°EDalby Limestone — 60.91°N, 15.02°EDalby Limestone — 61.17°N, 14.77°EDalby Limestone — 61.07°N, 15.17°EDalby Limestone — 60.92°N, 14.07°EDalby Limestone — 55.53°N, 14.23°EDalby Limestone — 57.25°N, 17.06°EDalby Limestone — 58.17°N, 13.53°EDalby Limestone — 56.23°N, 12.67°EDalby Limestone — 56.95°N, 16.88°EDenley Limestone — 43.21°N, 75.46°WDenley Limestone — 43.88°N, 75.49°WBenbolt — 35.91°N, 84.09°WBenbolt — 37.10°N, 81.56°WBenbolt — 37.11°N, 81.52°WBenbolt — 37.10°N, 81.34°WBenbolt — 37.27°N, 81.00°WBenbolt — 37.08°N, 81.71°WBenbolt — 37.00°N, 81.67°WBenbolt — 37.00°N, 81.00°WBenbolt — 36.20°N, 83.75°WBenbolt — 36.19°N, 83.93°WBenbolt — 36.30°N, 83.67°WBenbolt — 36.35°N, 83.42°WDunleith — 42.02°N, 93.45°WDunleith — 37.07°N, 89.57°WDunleith — 42.00°N, 90.50°WDunleith — 43.49°N, 91.87°WDunleith — 42.45°N, 89.08°WVerulam — 44.75°N, 79.33°WVerulam — 44.50°N, 78.97°WVerulam — 44.48°N, 78.95°WVerulam — 44.50°N, 79.17°WVerulam — 45.42°N, 75.73°WVerulam — 45.62°N, 74.78°WDalby — 57.00°N, 17.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 15.00°EDalby — 61.00°N, 15.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 14.00°EDalby — 58.00°N, 12.00°EDalby — 60.92°N, 15.09°EDalby — 57.24°N, 17.07°EScotch Grove — 42.17°N, 91.11°WScotch Grove — 42.00°N, 91.00°WScotch Grove — 41.88°N, 90.55°WScotch Grove — 42.00°N, 90.50°WScotch Grove — 41.77°N, 91.13°WScotch Grove — 41.92°N, 90.92°WScotch Grove — 41.85°N, 90.18°WScotch Grove — 42.10°N, 91.28°WWardell — 37.08°N, 81.55°WWardell — 37.10°N, 81.34°WWardell — 37.00°N, 81.00°WWardell — 37.02°N, 81.73°WWardell — 37.03°N, 81.79°WWardell — 37.06°N, 81.75°WRochester Shale — 43.15°N, 77.62°WRochester Shale — 43.15°N, 77.06°WRochester Shale — 43.10°N, 79.06°WRochester Shale — 43.17°N, 78.68°WRochester Shale — 43.15°N, 79.04°WCystoid Limestone — 41.15°N, 1.20°WCystoid Limestone — 41.17°N, 1.15°WRacine — 42.73°N, 87.78°WRacine — 42.88°N, 88.04°WRacine — 43.05°N, 88.01°WRacine — 43.01°N, 88.38°WRacine — 42.00°N, 88.00°WRacine — 41.85°N, 87.65°WKeyser Limestone — 39.64°N, 77.66°WKeyser Limestone — 39.43°N, 78.97°WKeyser Limestone — 39.45°N, 78.97°WVal d'Homs — 43.00°N, 3.00°EAntelope Valley — 39.05°N, 116.73°WAntelope Valley — 38.94°N, 116.50°WAntelope Valley — 37.12°N, 116.50°WAntelope Valley — 36.88°N, 116.67°WAntelope Valley — 36.78°N, 115.89°WJupiter — 49.47°N, 63.62°WJupiter — 49.38°N, 63.60°WBobcaygeon — 44.53°N, 78.55°WBobcaygeon — 44.50°N, 79.20°WBobcaygeon — 44.60°N, 79.00°WBobcaygeon — 44.58°N, 79.09°WVasalemma — 59.24°N, 24.29°EVasalemma — 59.23°N, 24.23°EVasalemma — 58.79°N, 25.58°EVasalemma — 59.36°N, 26.33°EVasalemma — 59.43°N, 24.78°EVasalemma — 59.30°N, 24.65°EMuch Wenlock Limestone — 52.52°N, 2.10°WMuch Wenlock Limestone — 52.58°N, 1.98°WVinice — 50.00°N, 14.00°EVinice — 50.00°N, 14.15°EDolhir — 52.93°N, 3.18°WLower Ktaoua — 30.98°N, 5.43°WLower Ktaoua — 31.00°N, 5.00°WLower Ktaoua — 30.00°N, 8.50°WLower Ktaoua — 31.23°N, 4.53°WUpper Fezouata — 30.42°N, 5.85°WUpper Fezouata — 30.50°N, 5.75°WUpper Fezouata — 31.38°N, 4.17°WUpper Fezouata — 30.14°N, 7.02°WUpper Fezouata — 29.80°N, 7.52°WOsgood Shale — 39.13°N, 85.30°WOsgood Shale — 39.00°N, 85.00°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Rhombifera has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 213 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 49 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Rhombifera and its relatives

Ordovician

Where Rhombifera and its relatives were recorded in the Ordovician.

Found in the same rock

2,601 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 549 sites for Rhombifera, 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

193 references

Each of the 796 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. 181 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 Rhombifera

Credit
Ernst Haeckel
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Rhombifera 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 itBlastozoa through timeFormations of the OrdovicianThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Zittel 1879