Fossils/Invertebrates

Main article: Fossils

Sponges (Phylum Porifera)

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Common Names	Sponges
Physical Description	Their bodies do not contain tissue, muscles, nerves, or organs. Some are composed of silica spicules, and others of calcium carbonate. They generally do not have body symmetry, but some sponges have radial symmetry. Their bodies are hollow and held together by jelly-like substances which have many cells. Cells on the outside can move inwards and change function. Their pores are called ostia.
Fossil Range	Precambrian to Recent. Sponges reached their greatest diversity during the Cretaceous period.
Taxonomy	Kingdom Animalia.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They are benthic and sessile, and live in marine and freshwater environments. Sponges are free-swimming in their larval stages. Sponges can have a symbiotic relationship with blue-green algae (shallow sponges are more likely to do this). Sponges can be reef builders, being able to house organisms such as nematodes, crustaceans and mollusks in the osculum (center chamber).
Adaptations Over Time	They were the first to branch off from the common ancestor of all animals, so they're the sister group of all other animals. The shapes of their bodies are adapted for maximal efficiency of water flow through the central cavity. Some specimens can move at around 1-4 mm a day.
Distribution	Sponges are worldwide in their distribution, living in a wide range of ocean habitats.
Additional Information	They pump water through the body to feed, and have one body orifice to serve for ingestion as well as excretion.

Genus Astraeospongia (calcareous sponge)

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Common Names	Basket Sponge
Fossil Range	Silurian to Devonian
Taxonomy	Class: Heteractinida Order: Octactinellida
Mode of Life or Habitat	It lived in marine environments.
Additional Information	It was a calcareous sponge- that is, it was composed mostly of calcium carbonate. The spicules were the only part of the sponge that got fossilized, and there are star-shapes spicules all over the body (though they can be faint). The pores of the sponge are called Ostium.

Genus Hydnoceras (glass sponge)

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Common Names	Glass Sponge (this name refers to all of class Hexactinellida).
Physical Description	It is composed of silica spicules, which provided structural support and deterred enemies.
Fossil Range	Devonian to Pennsylvanian
Distribution	Eastern United States and Europe
Additional Information	Class Hexactinellida is still extant but is now found only in the deep ocean. In the past, they could be found at almost all depths. Hydnoceras is a good index fossil and is usually preserved as internal molds.

Bryozoans (Phylum Bryozoa)

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Common Names	Moss animals
Physical Description	The structure seen when looking at a Bryozoan is actually a support structure composed of calcium carbonate. The animal itself lives in tiny holes in that structure, and is rarely larger than a millimeter. They appear very similar to corals, but are very, very different in biology. Bryozoans come in three growth forms: massive (a mound with no planned shape), branching (where the structure forms intricate branches), and fenestrate (where in life the bryozoan would have large, soft appendages coming out from the skeleton).
Fossil Range	They evolved in the Ordovician, and are still found today. Are most commonly found in Paleozoic rocks
Taxonomy	Clade Lophophorata
Mode of Life or Habitat	They attached to the bottom of the ocean, and were filter feeders.
Distribution	Bryozoans are found on every continent except Antarctica. Most lived in a shallow marine environment, but nowadays can also be found in fresh water.
Additional Information	The produce a compound known as bryostatin 1, which is currently being tested as an anti-cancer drug. Bryozoans can reproduce both sexually and asexually.

Genus Archimedes

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Physical Description	It was a fenestrate bryozoan that was much wider in life than it seems from the fossil. Individual animals are called zooids.
Fossil Range	Carbonifererous.
Taxonomy	Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrata Family: Fenestellidae
Mode of Life or Habitat	It was a filter feeder, than was benthic and sessile in nature.
Distribution	Are mainly found throughout Europe and North America, but they have also been found in sediments of Afghanistan, Canada, Russia, and Australia. They lived in shallow marine waters - the prefered clear water because murky water clogs zooecium.
Additional Information	It was named for the Greek thinker Archimedes, who invented the water screw - Genus Archimedes looks very much like a screw.

Genus Rhombopora

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Physical Description	A branching bryozoan.
Fossil Range	Carboniferous to Permian.
Taxonomy	Class: Stenolaemata Order: Rhabdomesida Family: Rhomboporidae
Mode of Life or Habitat	Sessile, benthic, filter feeder.
Distribution	North America, shallow marine waters.
Additional Information	It was a branching bryozoan.

Graptolites (Phylum Hemichordata)

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Common Names	Graptolites
Physical Description	Fossils look like pencil marks on a rock. They consisted of colonies of microscopic organisms with a threefold body division.
Fossil Range	Cambrian to end of Carboniferous.
Taxonomy	Clade: Ambulacraria
Mode of Life or Habitat	Usually deposit feeders, though some species are filter feeders.
Adaptations Over Time	They are thought to be on the path that led to the vertebrates.
Distribution	Worldwide - excellent index fossils for the Paleozoic.
Additional Information	They are usually fossilized by means of carbonization in shale.

Order Dendroidea (benthic graptolites)

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Common Names	Benthic Graptolites
Physical Description	They were upright and bushy. They are many-branched, with numerous small thecae (two kinds of thecae, autothecae and bithecae)
Fossil Range	Middle Cambrian to Lower Carboniferous
Mode of Life or Habitat	Sessile, Benthic, Suspension Feeder.
Distribution	Worldwide.

Order Graptoloidea (planktic graptolites)

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Common Names	Planktic Graptolites
Physical Description	One type of thecae (autothecae). In adults, there is always a sicula bearing a nema.
Fossil Range	Lower Ordovician to Lower Devonian
Mode of Life or Habitat	Planktonic/Pelagic, Sessile, Suspension Feeder.
Adaptations Over Time	They had 8 stipes in earlier forms but 2 and then 1 in later forms.
Distribution	Worldwide.
Additional Information	More diverse than Dendroidea.

Corals (Phylum Cnidaria)

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Mode of Life or Habitat	Corals are benthic, whereas jellyfish are planktonic.
Distribution	Shallow marine
Additional Information	The cnidarian group contains jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals. They all use stinging cells known as nematocysts to capture prey, which is usually plankton. Modern corals have a symbiotic relationship with algae.

Order Tabulata (tabulate corals)

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Common Names	Tabulate Corals
Physical Description	They form colonies of hexagonal cells (corallites), with a calcite skeleton. They have well-developed horizontal internal partitions (tabulae) within each cell, but reduced or absent vertical internal partitions (septa).
Fossil Range	Ordovician to Permian. They became extinct in the Permian–Triassic extinction event.
Taxonomy	Phylum Cnidaria, Class Anthozoa. Corals are divided into two groups for this event- horn corals and colonial corals.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They were almost always colonial.
Distribution	Shallow waters.
Additional Information	Horn corals get their name from their body shape, which is horn-like.

Genus Favosites

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Common Names	Honeycomb coral.
Physical Description	A specimen can be anywhere from a few centimeters to tens of centimeters in all dimensions. Is easily recognizable by the honeycomb-like appearance when viewed from above. Corallites (individual structure that houses each coral animal/polyp) were about 1/16 in (2mm) wide and in length they were long, narrow, closely packed tubes. They were colonial.
Fossil Range	Ordovician to Devonian. It is commonly found in Silurian limestone.
Taxonomy	Family Favositidae
Adaptations Over Time	Rising sea levels during the Devonian caused them to become less common.
Distribution	Worldwide - warm, shallow water. Mostly found in Michigan.

Genus Halysites

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Common Names	Chain coral, due to its growth pattern.
Physical Description	Made of calcite. Individual corallites were 1/16 in (2 mm) long and wide held a single polyp. Corallites are more widely spaced in Halysites than in many other tabulate corals.
Fossil Range	Mid Ordovician to Late Silurian. They thrived in the Silurian.
Taxonomy	Family Halysitidae
Adaptations Over Time	They had a symbiotic relationship with hermit crabs and algae.
Distribution	Lived in warm, shallow waters. They have been found in sediments of Canada, the US, and Australia.
Additional Information	It is an index fossil for the Silurian.

Order Rugosa (rugose corals)

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Common Names	Horn Corals.
Physical Description	They have a skeleton made of calcite. They have bilateral symmetry (tabulate and scleractinian corals have radial symmetry)
Fossil Range	Middle Ordovician to Late Permian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Benthic microcarnivores.
Adaptations Over Time	Some symbiotic rugose corals were endobionts of Stromatoporoidea.

Genus Heliophylum (horn coral)

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Physical Description	It fed using its nematocysts to stun prey.
Fossil Range	Devonian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	It was solitary, not colonial.
Distribution	They had a wide distribution.
Additional Information	Heliophyllum was a solitary horn coral

Genus Hexagonaria

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Common Names	The polished stone of this fossil is known as a Petoskey Stone, and is the state stone of Michigan.
Physical Description	A colonial rugose coral. Each corallite of the Hexagonaria is made up of a usually six-sided compartment that adjoins the others in the colony and creates an elaborate hexagon.
Fossil Range	Devonian.
Distribution	It was very widely distributed around the world and lived in warm, shallow waters.
Additional Information	It is the state fossil of Michigan. It was very widely distributed around the earth.

Order Scleratinia (stony corals)

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Physical Description	The skeleton of an individual scleractinian polyp is known as a corallite. All modern scleractinian skeletons are composed of calcium carbonate in the form of crystals of aragonite
Fossil Range	Middle Triassic - Recent. Scleractinian corals are the only corals that are alive today.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Although some species are solitary, most are colonial.
Distribution	They live in every ocean in the world. Hermatypic corals live in shallow tropical waters while Ahermatypic corals live in all regions of the ocean.
Additional Information	Polyps reproduce asexually by budding.

Genus Septastrea

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Physical Description	Septastraea's morphology is variable, being able to grow into just about any shape. Corallites were 1/4 inches long and wide.
Fossil Range	It lived from the Miocene to the Pleistocene during the Neogene and Quaternary periods.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Usually lived in shallow, warm water, but were able to survive in deeper, colder water.

Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

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Physical Description	They are invertebrates and have segmented bodies, an exoskeleton, and many limbs. The exoskeleton is made of chitin and sometimes calcium carbonate.
Fossil Range	Cambrian - Recent.
Additional Information	This is the phylum that contains the "creepy-crawlies" of today. Arachnids, insects, and the like are all arthropods.

Subphylum Crustacea (shrimp, lobster, crabs, barnacles, ostracods)

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Physical Description	Their shell is made of chitin. Their bodies are divided into segments - the head, thorax, and abdomen (sometimes referred to as the cephalothorax and abdomen). They have gills to obtain oxygen. They have 2 pairs of sensory antennae and 3 pairs of limbs used to push food into the mouth. They moult their exoskeleton in order to grow. They have an open circulatory system.
Fossil Range	Cambrian - Recent. They became abundant from Carboniferous period onward
Mode of Life or Habitat	They are aquatic and carnivorous.
Distribution	The majority are aquatic (either marine or freshwater) but a few groups have adapted to live on land.

Subphylum Chelicerata (Eurypterids)

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Common Names	Sea Scorpions
Physical Description	They are the largest-known arthropods ever to exist, the largest measuring in at 2.5 meters long (although most were less than 8 inches long).
Fossil Range	Middle Ordovician - Late Permian (Although the earliest fossils of eurypterids date back to the Ordovician, the level of complexity already exhibited by the group indicates that they evolved in the Cambrian). After being heavily affected by the Late Devonian extinction, they became extinct during the Permian-Triassic extinction. Eurypterids were most diverse during the Devonian and Silurian periods.
Taxonomy	The eurypterids belonged to the same group that modern-day horseshoe crabs are classified in. As arachnids, they are related to modern day spiders and scorpions.
Additional Information	When they were first discovered, paleontologists thought that they were ancient catfish- it was seven years later that they became identified as arthropods. More detail is known about the external anatomy of eurypterids than any other group of fossils, and they are almost as well known as modern animals.

Class Insecta (Insects)

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Physical Description	Their bodies have a head, thorax, and abdomen. They have six legs attached to the thorax. Insects began as wingless organisms, but evolved wings in the Carboniferous. They have a waterproof exoskeleton made of chitin
Fossil Range	Early Devonian to recent. By the Cretaceous, all modern forms of insects had appeared.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Terrestrial and freshwater.
Distribution	Worldwide
Additional Information	Many undergo metamorphosis in the change from one stage of life to another. Insects were not visibly affected by the extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous.

Class Trilobita (Trilobites)

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Physical Description	The first image identifies the sections of a trilobite's body: 1- cephalon, 2-Throax, 3-pygidium. The second image identifies the lobes that gives trilobites their name: 1- Left pleural, 2-Axial, 3-Right pleural. Trilobites are named for their bodies, which are divided into three lobes, which run longitudinally along the body. The trilobite's body is also divided into three sections. They had legs, which were probably made of chitin, and antennae. Trilobites had spikelike structures on each side of the cephalon known as "free cheeks", which fell off during molting.
Fossil Range	They were widespread from the Cambrian to the Permian, but fell victim to the huge mass extinction at the end of the Permian period. They were the most diverse at the end of the Cambrian.
Taxonomy	There are four genera of Trilobite that competitors are responsible for identifying.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Most of them lived benthically, but some may have been planktonic. Most of them were detritus feeders, but some may have been active predators and scavengers. They lived in the ocean - after the Ordovician, they moved from shallow water to deep water.
Distribution	They are good index fossils.
Additional Information	This is the major class of arthropods competitors will be asked about.

Genus Cryptolithus

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Common Names	It is also known as the "lace collar trilobite", because the front edge of its cephalon looks somewhat like lace.
Physical Description	It was almost completely blind. It is easily identifiable by its long free cheeks, and its unbelievably squashed appearance. Cryptolithus was a small trilobite. The thorax has 6 segments.
Fossil Range	Ordovician
Mode of Life or Habitat	Probably just ate detritus on the bottom of the ocean.
Additional Information	Its name comes from Latin: Crypto means “hidden” and lithus means “stone.”

Genus Calymene

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Physical Description	It is typically 2 cm in length. They have a Holochroal eye. Most have 13 segments in the thorax, but some have 19 segments. The cephalon is the widest part of the oragnism. They are frequently preserved as tightly rolled fossils.
Fossil Range	Early Ordovician to Early Devonian. They were the most abundant in the Silurian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They lived in a marine environment - both shallow and deep.
Distribution	North America, North Africa, and Europe.
Additional Information	It is the state fossil of Wisconsin. Its name means “beautiful crescent”.

Genus Elrathia

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Physical Description	It is identifiable by its small head and well-defined axial lobe. Its thorax has anywhere from twelve to seventeen segments.
Fossil Range	Middle Cambrian - oldest trilobite on the list.
Distribution	It is widespread in Western US and North America. It is commonly found in the Wheeler Formation in Utah.
Additional Information	Its name is based off the town Elrath, Cherokee County, Alabama, where they were discovered.

Genus Isotelus

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Physical Description	It was the largest trilobite- three species of Isotelus grew to almost a meter long, and Isotelus rex is world’s largest trilobite ever found as a complete fossil. It also possessed pits around the body that some think housed sensory hairs. The thorax had 8 segments. It had Holochroal eyes.
Fossil Range	Middle-Upper Ordovician
Mode of Life or Habitat	Shallow and deep marine.
Distribution	Restricted to Europe and North America
Additional Information	Isotelus maximus is Ohio’s state fossil.

Genus Eldredgeops (formerly Phacops)

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Physical Description	It had schizochroal eyes, and a proparian facial structure. Its thorax had 11 segments.
Fossil Range	Late Middle to early Upper Devonian. It was the most abundant in Devonian - used as a index fossil for the Devonian period.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Warm, shallow seas.
Distribution	It is found in North America, Morocco, and USA.
Additional Information	Eldredgeops rana is Pennsylvania's state fossil. Fossils are commonly found rolled in a ball, probably for self protection.

Brachiopods (Phylum Brachiopoda)

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Common Names	Lamp Shells
Physical Description	Brachiopods are a diverse group of lophophorates that are externally very similar to clams and other bivalves. They are divided into two groups- inarticulate and articulate.
Taxonomy	As lophophorates, their closest relatives are bryozoans.

Class Inarticulata

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Physical Description	Most inarticulate brachiopods are less than 1 cm in size - smaller than articulate brachiopods. Their shells were composed of calcium phosphate. They lack the tooth and socket arrangement between the valves that is present in articulate brachiopods.
Fossil Range	Cambrian - recent.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Although they were originally shallow marine organisms, today's brachiopods are only found in the deep ocean. They could be either epifaunal or infaunal in nature, depending on the species. They were filter feeders.
Distribution	Worldwide

Genus Lingula

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Common Names	Name means "Little Tongue" in Latin because of its thin, tongue-shaped shell.
Physical Description	It is known for having a very long pedicle, which anchored it to the sea floor. It can be detected by a short row of three openings through which it takes in water (sides) and expels it again (middle).
Fossil Range	Silurian to recent.
Mode of Life or Habitat	It lived in vertical burrows in intertidal areas and fed on detritus.
Additional Information	It is the oldest known animal genus.

Class Articulata

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Physical Description	Articulate brachiopods have two valves that are different size. The larger shell is called the pedicle valve - contains a hole through which a fleshy stalk called a pedicle attaches to a substrate (rocks or sediment on the sea floor). The pedicle acts as an anchor that firmly holds the brachiopod in place. Brachiopods are immobile throughout adult life. The pedicle valve contains projections called teeth, which fit into sockets on the opposite brachial valve.
Fossil Range	Cambrian to recent. They flourished during Paleozoic (570-240 mya) and Mesozoic (240-65 mya) eras.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Most live in moderately deep water. They are sessile benthic suspension feeders.
Additional Information	They make up 95% of known brachiopod genera

Genus Atrypa

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Physical Description	Atrypa is a genus of brachiopod with shells round to short egg-shaped, covered with many fine radial ridges, that split further out. Shells are usually around 1cm in length.
Taxonomy	Lower Silurian (more specifically Telychian) to Upper Devonian (specifically Frasnian)
Mode of Life or Habitat	Habitat was shallow water and soft substrates.
Distribution	Atrypa can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

Genus Composita

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Common Names	Composita is also called Athyris
Physical Description	1 in (25 mm) long and wide. Composita had a smooth shell with a more or less distinct fold and sulcus and a round opening for the pedicle on the pedicle valve. Given the smooth shell, it was perfectly suited to survive in turbulent environments. Its shell is made of calcite.
Fossil Range	Found from the Upper Devonian to the Permian - especially abundant in Permian deposits.
Mode of Life or Habitat	It was abundant in warm, shallow seas.
Distribution	It is widespread in North America.
Additional Information	They are often present in rock with much shell debris.

Genus Juresania

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Physical Description	It was about 16 mm long and 22 mm wide. It had a round outline, a convex ventral, and was covered with numerous small spines. These small spines were found on both halves of the shell, and are the easiest way to identify Juresania. It had very fine costae.
Fossil Range	Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) to Late Permian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Juresania was a suspension feeder in a marine environment.
Distribution	Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada
Additional Information	Juresania is common in Beattie limestone and mostly in limestone or shale.

Genus Leptaena

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Physical Description	It is best identified by concentric wrinkling in the shell, which is finely striated. The ridges are used to stabilize it in soft substrates. It is fan shaped.
Fossil Range	Ordovician to Permian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	It adapted to living in sediment by lying flat, allowing sediment to gather on top of it. Marine environment.
Distribution	Widespread in North America, China, Norway and UK.
Additional Information	Commonly found in Wenlock limestone

Genus Mucrospirifer

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Common Names	Butterfly Shells.
Physical Description	Shell was typically 2.5 cm, but could grow up to 4 cm. Mucrospirifer was strophic, meaning that it had a well defined hinge.
Fossil Range	Ordovician through Jurassic - mainly existed in the Devonian. They survived the Permian extinction.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Soft, muddy, marine sediments
Adaptations Over Time	They had a big, long shell for the large surface area to prevent sinking into the mud and would help separate in-flowing and out-flowing currents.
Distribution	Worldwide distribution.
Additional Information	"Mucrospirifer" means “sharply pointed spire-bearer”

Genus Platystrophia

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Physical Description	3/4 in (19 mm) long, 1¼ in (32 mm) wide. Their shells were made out of calcite, and they lost their pedicles as they aged. Each valve of the shell is convex in profile, and the hinge line between the valves is wide. Surface markings on the shell include prominent angular ridges and intervening linear depressions.
Fossil Range	Middle Ordovician through Upper Silurian
Mode of Life or Habitat	They lived in quiet intertidal zones - shallow and deep marine.
Distribution	Worldwide

Genus Rafinesquina

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Common Names	Nicknamed the "Cursed Brachiopod."
Physical Description	Rafinesquina was 22 mm long and 28 mm wide. Their valves were flat and thin. They are "D" shaped, have concave brachial valve, and a convex pedicle valve. They have fine costae.
Fossil Range	Middle/Upper Ordovician
Adaptations Over Time	Good index fossil for the Ordovician.
Distribution	Widespread in North America
Additional Information	Named to honor Professor Constantine Rafinesque

Order Rhynchonellida

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Physical Description	They have small, distinctive shells made out of calcium phosphate, often with highly inflated valves.
Fossil Range	Middle Ordovician to Recent. In the Mesozoic, they were the most abundant brachiopod.
Adaptations Over Time	They were the first articulate brachiopod.
Additional Information	Rhynchonellida are a still living order of brachiopods that first began to appear in the Ordovician. They can be identified by their wedge shape, and large ridges. They are biconvex, and have changed little since their appearance in the Ordovician.

Mollusks (Phylum Mollusca)

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Class Bivalvia (clams, oysters, mussels)

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Physical Description	Bivalves are a still living class of mollusks that include oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops. Their shells are either made of aragonite or calcite. They are usually bilaterally symmetrical. They may look superficially like brachiopods.
Fossil Range	Early Cambrian - Recent. The first freshwater bivalves appeared in the Devonian.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Mostly marine - some live in lakes and streams. Many bivalves burrow into the sediment. Bivalves can be shallow infaunal, deep infaunal, or epifaunal.
Additional Information	"Bivalvia" means "two valves."

Genus Exogyra

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Physical Description	About 4 inches long and wide. The left valve is deep while the right valve is flat - they are asymmetrical. Their shells are very durable and made of aragonite.
Fossil Range	Jurassic to Cretaceous.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Solid substrates in warm seas. They were sessile filter feeders.
Distribution	Worldwide
Additional Information	Many of them survived as fossils due to the thick shells which were not easily destroyed.

Genus Gryphaea

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Physical Description	They have heavy shells made of calcite. They have a cupped left valve and a flatter right valve, similar to exogyra. As adults, the curvature of the shell could become so pronounced the shell would not be able to open.
Fossil Range	Upper Triassic - Eocene.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They lived on muddy sea beds, cemented to a small particle of rock. They were infaunal suspension feeders.
Distribution	Worldwide (rare in North America but abundant in Europe)
Additional Information	They are also known as the "Devil's toe nails" because of their shape (the larger valve is called "the toenail").

Genus Pecten

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Common Names	Scallop or seawater clam.
Physical Description	They are usually more than 85 mm wide. Has flat shells and distinct flat extensions to the hinge line called “wings.”
Fossil Range	Cretaceous to Quaternary - some say that they are still living.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They are able to swim - they do this by clamping together their two lightweight valves and forcing water out of the hinge. They are filter feeders and their diet consists mainly of plankton. They live in clean sand in moderately shallow waters where they rest on the bed in self-made depressions.
Distribution	Worldwide.
Additional Information	The name pectin comes from the latin word for comb or rake, and the genus was used for the basis of the Shell Oil Company's logo.

Genus Glycymeris

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Common Names	Bittersweet Clam
Physical Description	They have medium-sized thick aragonite shells which are almost circular. The surface is either smooth or radially ribbed. The hinge is heavy, with a row of 6-12 teeth.
Fossil Range	Early Cretaceous to recent. They reached maximum diversity in the Cretaceous.
Mode of Life or Habitat	They burrow into the sand and mud in shallow waters.
Adaptations Over Time	They evolved convergently with genus Composita.
Distribution	Worldwide. Today, they are common in North Carolina.
Additional Information	This genus was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

Genus Pholadomya

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Additional Information	Pholadomya is an extinct genus of marine clam that occurred from the early Triassic, to the late Pliocene. It is not on the Official Fossil List in 2020/21.

Genus Astarte

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Physical Description	1 to 3 inches. They had annual growth lines.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Marine - mainly temperate, shallow water. They were benthic suspension feeders.
Distribution	Worldwide, mainly Northern Hemisphere.
Additional Information	Named after the goddess Astarte, a goddess of war and sexual love in the modern Middle East.

Genus Nucula

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Physical Description	Shells grew up to 30 mm. They were approximately triangular in shape. The surface had fine cocentric growth lines.
Fossil Range	Ordovician - recent.
Mode of Life or Habitat	Shallow seas in the muddy sand close to the sediment surface. They are benthic selective deposit feeders, feeding on a variety of microzooplankton, organic matter, and microbes.
Distribution	Worldwide.
Additional Information	"Nucula" comes from Latin.

Class Cephalopoda

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Order Goniatitida (goniatites)

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Order Ceratitida (ceratites)

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Order Ammonitida (ammonites)

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Additional Information

Ammonoids have distinctive suture patterns which fall under three major categories: Goniatitic: These sutures have a zig-zag appearance and are characteristic of Paleozoic ammonoids Ceratitic: These sutures are characterized by lobes and saw-tooth patterns and are characteristic of early Mesozoic ammonoids Ammonitic: These sutures have much more frequent and divided lobes than Ceratitic sutures and they do not have saw-tooth patterns. They are characteristic of late Mesozoic ammonoids

Genus Baculites

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Physical Description	It was anywhere from 7 cm from 2 meters in length. Males were smaller than females and had lighter ribbing. They had many chambers which would fill with air to increase buoyancy.
Fossil Range	Upper Cretceous
Mode of Life or Habitat	It was carnivorous and lived in the middle of the water column. There is much debate over whether they lived upright with tentacles on sea bed for foraging for food, or if they lived horizontally and near the surface of the water.
Distribution	Widespread in North America
Additional Information	It's name means "walking stick rock." It is used as an index fossil.

Genus Dactylioceras

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Physical Description	They were about 2.5 inches. They have a strong shell with ribs that are slightly inclined forward and closely spaced.
Fossil Range	Lower Jurassic
Mode of Life or Habitat	They were slow swimmers, and probably scavenged on the sea floor. They spawned in clusters, and may have often died shortly after spawning.
Distribution	Worldwide - the best specimens are found in England and Germany. Many specimens are found in the Mazon Creek lagerstatten.
Additional Information	Dactylioceras is a valuable index fossil. Their name (dactyl) means "finger" in Greek, referring to the ribs on the shell.

Order Belemnitida (Belemnites)

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Genus Belemnitella

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Physical Description	They are about 17cm long and 2cm wide. They had 10 arms which had inward-curving hooks used for grasping prey. They had a hard internal skeleton (rostrom/guard) which is long and narrow with a blunt apex. The phragomocone is the inner shell made of aragonite.
Fossil Range	Upper Cretaceous
Mode of Life or Habitat	They swam in shallow waters. They used their hooked tentacles to catch small prey. Their main predator was Ichthyosaurs.
Distribution	Northern Hemisphere
Additional Information	Usually, only the rostrum, or guard, is fossilized. It is the state fossil of Delaware.

Order Nautilida (Chambered Nautilus)

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Order Orthocerida ("Orthoceras")

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Additional Information	Orthoceras was a cephalopod from the Lower Ordovician to the Upper Triassic, although the time of their extinction is not completely clear. The most likely fed on trilobites and small arthropods.

Class Gastropoda (Snails)

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Genus Conus

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Additional Information	Conus is a gastropod that ranged from the Eocene to modern day. Conus most notably can fire a toxic harpoon containing various venoms known as conotoxins. They are the only gastropods known to kill humans.

Genus Cypraea

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Additional Information

Cypraea, also known as a Cowrie, originated in the Miocene and still lives today. When non-threatened, it is soft. However, when a predator makes contact with it, it hardens its exterior and confuses the predator. They are about 2 cm long. They ate algae and corals. They are widespread throughout North America in distribution. It is sometimes used for jewelry and was used as currency by Africans and Chinese.

Genus Platyceras

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Additional Information	Platyceras is a gastrophod ranging from the Silurian to the Middle Triassic. They fed off of crinoid excrement.

Genus Turritella

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Additional Information	Turritella is a gastropod that originated in the Late Jurassic and still lives today. The name "Turritella" comes from the latin word turritus which means turreted or towered.

Genus Worthenia

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Additional Information	Worthenia was a gastropod that lived from the Devonian to the Triassic. It was named after the paleontologist Amos Henry Worthen.

Echinoderms (Phylum Echinodermata)

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Class Asteroidea (Starfish)

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Class Blastoidea

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Genus Pentremites

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Class Crinoidea

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Additional Information	Competitors are required to identify the stems, columns and calyxes of crinoids for this event.

Class Echinoidea

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Additional Information	Competitors are required to identify both regular and irregular echinoids, such as sea urchins and sand dollars.

Class Ophiuroidea (brittle stars)

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