Paraconularia
derwentensis Phylum
Cnidaria (?), Subphylum Medusozoa, Class Staurozoa, Order Conulatae,
Family Conulariidae
Geological
Time: Permian
Size: 75
mm long by 15-25 mm across
Fossil Site:
Snow Hill, Royal George, Tasmania, Australia
Description:
Conulariids have been a subject of speculation for over a century
and a half. They ranged from the Middle Ordovician to the Triassic.
Exactly what they were is still not settled. Because of their fourfold
symmetry, they have often been placed in the Cnidaria. However,
their skeleton was very different from anything known in the Cnidaria,
and they may represent a separate, extinct phylum The Conulariids
had elongated, pyramidal exoskeletons, made up of rows of calcium
phosphate rods. Most were square or rectangular in cross section,
with prominent grooves at the corners. They lived attached to hard
objects by a flexible stalk, and often lived in groups. They are
thought to have been filter feeders; how they reproduced is not
known.
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