Fossils

[dudeincolorado]

that is one i actually did! what do you need to know?

[gneissisnice]

Hehe everything.
Here's how I break down my binder for each genus:
Age:(what time period(s) it lived in)
Distribution (where in the world it is found)
Habitat (where it lives; in this case, obviously marine)
Mode of life (sessile, pelagic, etc., this would be sessile)
Feeding Habits: Carnivorous (all cnidarians are carnivorous)
Distinguishing Features: (what you can use to identify it)
Extra: (any random info).

Ok, so apparently i got a few things, but thats for all coral. I really just need the age, distribution, distinguishing features and extra.

[ktrujillo52]

I'm not in fossils, but I asked my sister and this is what she said:

Age: Miocene- Pleistocene
Distribution: North America, Europe
Habitat: Warm, shallow-water reefs
Distinguishing Features: She said it looks like a honey comb (she told me to not write that but im writing it anyways)

[Guy]

That's odd. I can find a decent amount of information for Septastraea, but for Hexagonaria, I have almost nothing.

[dudeincolorado]

to ID it: there are generally 6 sides for every coralite with 6 long septa and 6 short, the walls are thin
extra: it's not reef building and can live in cold water

[crazyraptor]

I feel reeaaly dumb asking this, but what does sessile and motile mean?

Do they move around, or pretty much stay still. Things like oysters, mussels and barnacles are sessile as adults, while fish are motile.

I'd recommend from experience to know which organisms were sessile and which were motile, especially if it changes through its life cycles (and know that too.)

[gneissisnice]

Thanks a lot, everyone, for helping me out.
For Hexagonaria, I have
Age: Devonian
Distribution: N. America, europe, Asia, Aust
Distinguishing features: Hexagon shaped.

And there is sessile, meaning rooted, motile, meaning able to move, pelagic, meaning free swimming, and planktonic, meaning drifting by means of ocean current. That is what i mean by mode of life, by the way. Good luck everyone, my regionals are tomorrow

[jazzy90]

ok so, wikipedia says articulate brachiopods have a hinge and inarticulate ones are held together by musculature. but, looking at my field guide, it doesn't say articulate or not. looking at a fossil, is there one feature that separates the two groups? a pedicle valve maybe?
also, i'm having a little trouble visualizing what it means by "held together by musculature." do inarticulate brachiopods open like a book or kinda like a pair of cymbals?

[gneissisnice]

The only inarticulate brachiopod we have to know is Lingula, the rest are articulate.
Think of an articulate brachiopod like a castanet. it opens like a bivalve.

[danger will robinson]

ok so, wikipedia says articulate brachiopods have a hinge and inarticulate ones are held together by musculature. but, looking at my field guide, it doesn't say articulate or not. looking at a fossil, is there one feature that separates the two groups? a pedicle valve maybe?
also, i'm having a little trouble visualizing what it means by "held together by musculature." do inarticulate brachiopods open like a book or kinda like a pair of cymbals?

I was told that inarticulate are held together with muscle, while articulate are held together with teeth. Well...does anybody know what she means by "teeth"?