 | Texas Pennsylvanian FossilsDedicated to the Study of Pennsylvanian Fossils, Sponsored by Members of the Dallas Paleontological Society |
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Bryozoans | Bryozoans are a group of microscopic marine invertebrates that originated in the Ordovician and still inhabit the oceans today. They are colonial animals living in a calcareous skeleton which is generally what fossilizes. In the Paleozoic the bryozoans were a dominant group in many of the world’s seas. The skeletons primarily existed attached to the seafloor or something on it and come in a wide variety of shapes, from simple sticks to elaborate lacy, mesh-like structures. In the Finis Shale, bryozoans constitute one of the larger fractions of the fossil fauna. They are found almost exclusively as small fragments of colonies, very seldom exceeding more than a few centimeters in size. There are over two dozen species recognized but identifying them to species or even genus generally can only be done by microscopic examination of thin sections. We are fortunate to have a recently published work on the bryozoans which aids in identification of hand samples. The genera Polypora and Cystodictya are common in most samples; most of the others are much rarer. A special thanks goes to Dr. Andrej Ernst, lead author of the 2023 paper, who provided invaluable identifications, comments, and feedback on most of our samples. Scroll through images or click to enlarge. Fossils are in alphabetical order by Genus. Collections are from Mike DeBrock (MD), Josh Hanley (JH), Dr. Peter Holterhoff (PH), Mark McKinzie (MM), John McLeod (JM), ), Dr. Ben Neuman (BN), Bob Williams (BW), Sveta Earnest (SE), and Rodney Wise (RW). All scales are shown in millimeters unless otherwise noted. |
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Images | Taxonomy/Stratigraphy/ | Images | Taxonomy/Stratigraphy/ |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Fenestellidae Genus: Acupipora Species: A. elliptica Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: ? Order: ? Family: ? Genus: Cavernella Species: C. praecavifera Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Chainodictyonidae Genus: Chainodictyon Species: C. minor Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Cystodictyonidae Genus: Cystodictya Species: C. fomosa Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Trepostomida Family: Dyscritellidae Genus: Dyscritella Species: D. felixi Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Fistuliporidae Genus: Eridopora Species: E. beilensis Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Fenstellidae Genus: Fabifenestella Species: F. compactilis Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Fenestellidae Genus: Fenestella Species: F. mimica Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Fistuliporidae Genus: Fistulipora Species: F. incrustans Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: SE | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Fistuliporinae Genus: Fistulipora Species: F. nodulifera Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD, MM |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Fistuliporidae Genus: Fistulipora Species: F. regularis Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Fistuliporidae Genus: Fistulipora Species: F. vaccula Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: SE |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cystoporida Family: Goniocladiidae Genus: Goniocladia Species: G. grahamensis Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD, SE | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Fenestellidae Genus: Laxifenestella Species: L. placida Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Fenestellidae Genus: Laxifenestella Species: L. texana Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD, MM | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Trepostomatida Family: Leioclemidae Genus: Leioclema Species: L. hirsutum Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Acanthocladiidae Genus: Penniretepora Species: P. flexistriata Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Acanthocladiidae Genus: Penniretepora Species: P. oculata Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polyporidae Genus: Polypora Species: P. arata Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: SE | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polyporidae Genus: Polypora aff. Species: P. hexagona Finis Shale, Graham Formation LCCem, Jacksboro, TX Collection: SE, MD, MM |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polporidae Genus: Polypora Species: P. sigillaria Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polporidae Genus: Polypora Species: P. triangularis Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM, MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Polporidae Genus: Polypora Species: P. valida Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Chainodictyonidae Genus: Rhombocladia Species: R. delicata Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: BW, MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cryptostomida Family: Rhomboporidae Genus: Rhombopora Species: R. lepidodendroides Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: BW | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Fenestrida Family: Septoporidae Genus: Septopora Species: S. blanda Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: BW |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Cryptostomida Family: Rhabdomesidae Genus: Streblotrypa Species: S. multipora Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: BW, MD | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Trepostomatida Family: Stenoporidae Genus: Tabulipora Species: T. carbonaria Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam and Cemetery, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM, RW |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Trepostomatida Family: Stenoporidae Genus: Tabulipora Species: T. cava Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: SE | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Stenolaemata Order: Trepostomatida Family: Stenoporidae Genus: Tabulipora Species: T. plummeri Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Order: Family: Genus: Thamniscus Species: T. octonarius Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Dam, Jacksboro, TX Collection: MM | Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Order: Family: Genus: Desc: Bryozoan Holdfasts Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Cem., Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD Note: A selection of Bryozoan attachment features |
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Bryozoa Class: Order: Family: Genus: Desc: Bryozoan Growths Finis Shale, Graham Formation Lost Creek Cem., Jacksboro, TX Collection: MD Note: Peculiar growths found on bryozoans |
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