scholarly journals Middle and Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the Cincinnati Arch region

1983 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Rugose Corals

Late Ordovician rugose corals of the northern Sierra Nevada, California

1994 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias ◽  
A. W. Potter ◽  
Rodney Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Nevada ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Northern California ◽  
Rugose Corals

The shoo fly Complex of Late Devonian and older Paleozoic age is a regionally extensive rock assemblage in the northern Sierra Nevada of northern California. It consists chiefly of a coherent unit of phyllite, quartzose sandstone, and chert, and a melange unit (Hannah and Moores, 1986). Several limestone lenses in the Taylorsville area comprise the Montgomery Limestone (Diller, 1892, 1908; McMath, 1958; Figure 1). The Montgomery was long considered to be Silurian, largely on the basis of corals, brachiopods, and cephalopods (Diller, 1892, 1908; McMath, 1958; Berry and Boucot, 1970; Merriam, 1972). However, recent analyses of the biota indicate an Ashgill (middle Maysvillian–Gamachian) age (Boucot and Potter, 1977; Harris, personal commun. cited in Hannah and Moores, 1986, p. 790; Potter et al., 1990b; present study).

Symbiotic relationships between worms and solitary rugose corals in the Late Ordovician

Paleobiology ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Taxonomic Affinity ◽  
External Wall ◽  
Symbiotic Relationships ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
History Of

Symbiotic relationships involving physical contact between worms and solitary rugosan polyps are recorded by the following structures in North American Late Ordovician corals: (1) Trypanites borings enclosed within septal swellings in two specimens, (2) vermiform grooves and openings along the external wall of one corallum, and (3) a chamber containing a unique brown tube within one individual. These features are indicative, respectively, of commensal boring polychaete annelids that penetrated through coralla, commensal epizoic worms of unknown taxonomic affinity that attached to the side of a polyp, and a tubicolous worm (possibly a polychaete) that was likely a parasitic endozoan. Symbionts comparable to the latter two types are also known from two specimens of Devonian solitary rugose corals.Indirect evidence suggests that symbioses between solitary rugosans and the worms that produced Trypanites borings as dwelling structures in the sides of coralla were relatively common. However, direct evidence that the hosts were alive has been found in only two corals. In both cases, worms bored through septa within the calices and came into contact with basal surfaces of the polyps, which secreted skeletal material that sealed off the intruders. The rarity of such structures suggests that the encounters were inadvertent. If boring worms favored upcurrent portions of objects in order to maximize feeding benefits and avoid sedimentation, their locations indicate that the concave sides of curved coralla faced toward prevailing currents when in life positions.“Opportunistic” worms are known to have attached to the sides of polyps only in rare instances when the hosts became temporarily exposed as a result of accidents or abnormalities. This indicates that coralla normally served to shield polyps from colonization by nonboring epizoans.Worms that apparently extended up through openings in basal surfaces of polyps likely obtained sustenance parasitically within the central cavities. They could have entered the hosts through their mouths, or via the calices when parts of the polyps detached from their coralla and contracted radially. The rarity of this type of relationship in solitary Rugosa suggests that the worms entered inadvertently.Symbioses involving physical contact between worms and polyps seem to have been rare throughout the history of solitary rugose corals. Both groups apparently tolerated such associations when they did occur, although the rugosans secreted structures in their coralla that served to isolate the symbionts. In doing so, they recorded the presence of worms not likely to be preserved as body fossils. The interpretation of such features provides information on the physiology and ethology of both organisms, on the history of symbiotic relationships, and on the diversity of soft-bodied organisms in ancient environments.

Corallite increase in the Late Ordovician coral Agetolites, and its taxonomic implication

2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (5) ◽  
pp. 839-855
Author(s):  
Ning Sun ◽  
Robert J. Elias ◽  
Dong-Jin Lee
Keyword(s):  
South China ◽  
Typical Feature ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Growth Characteristics ◽  
Taxonomic Position ◽  
Phylogenetic Relation ◽  
Axial Mode ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
Lateral Mode ◽  
Tabulate Corals

AbstractAgetolites is a problematic Late Ordovician genus possessing traits of both tabulate and rugose corals. The presence of numerous mural pores has often been considered to indicate a relation to tabulates, although an affinity to rugosans has also been proposed, based mainly on well-developed septa that alternate in length. To further consider the taxonomic position of Agetolites, growth characteristics of coralla representing three species from the Xiazhen Formation in South China are documented and assessed, focusing on modes of corallite increase. Three major modes of increase are recognized. By far the most common mode involves the development of an offset from a connective mural pore, without a clear relationship to a particular parent corallite. This mode of increase is usually associated with corner pores, but in one case occurs at a wall pore. The lateral mode of increase, which is relatively uncommon, is a typical feature in corallites along the boundary of intergrowths with stromatoporoids. The axial mode of increase is rare, occurring during rejuvenation of a damaged corallite or during regeneration following termination of a corallite. The mode of corallite increase that is characteristic of Agetolites, involving a connective mural pore and occurring without evidence of a particular parent, supports the interpretation that this genus is not a rugosan or a typical favositid tabulate. Mural pores are unknown in rugosans, and offsets arise from distinct parent corallites in favositids. The Ordovician genus Lichenaria, considered a representative of the most primitive stock of tabulate corals, shows the closest similarities with types of increase in Agetolites. Certain aspects of lateral and axial increase in Agetolites are comparable to features in a few more genera of Ordovician tabulates, further supporting a tabulate affinity. The phylogenetic relation of Agetolites to those and other tabulate genera, however, remains unresolved.

SYMBIOSIS OF RUGOSE CORALS WITH THE CYSTOPORATE BRYOZOAN FISTULIPORA PRZHIDOLENSIS IN THE PRIDOLI (LATEST SILURIAN) OF SAAREMAA, ESTONIA

Palaios ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 237-244
Author(s):  
OLEV VINN ◽  
ANDREJ ERNST ◽  
MARK A. WILSON ◽  
URSULA TOOM
Keyword(s):  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Growth Surface ◽  
Symbiotic Association ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Perpendicular Orientation ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Tabulate Corals

ABSTRACT In the Silurian, the most common hosts of endobiotic rugose corals were stromatoporoids followed by tabulate corals. Here we describe the relationship between rugose corals and a bryozoan. Solitary rugosans and the cystoporate bryozoan Fistulipora przhidolensis Kopajevich, 1990 formed a symbiotic association in the late Silurian (Pridoli) of Saaremaa, Estonia. The syn vivo nature of the association is indicated by complete intergrowth of both organisms and the perpendicular orientation of the rugosans to the bryozoan growth surface. There are one to seven endobiotic rugosans per bryozoan colony. This is the first detailed study of coral-bryozoan symbiosis from the Silurian; all previous reports describe Late Ordovician, Devonian, or Cenozoic material. The lack of malformations and decrease in the size of bryozoan zooids near the rugosans suggest there were no strong negative effects of the rugosans on the bryozoan. The rugosans likely benefited from their association with the bryozoan, which served as an anchor to stabilize them in hydrodynamically active waters, and the bryozoan may have benefited by protection against some types of predators. The associations described here were most likely mutualistic.

A Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) reefal bryozoan fauna from Anticosti Island, eastern Canada: taxonomy and chemostratigraphy

2009 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrej Ernst ◽  
Axel Munnecke
Keyword(s):  
Patch Reef ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Generic Level ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Yield Values ◽  
Anticosti Island

The Natiscotec outcrop on Anticosti Island, Canada (Ellis Bay Formation, Laframboise Member, Hirnantian, Late Ordovician), exposes a patch reef some 20–30 m in diameter, 2–3 m thick, with abundant rugose corals, as well as favositids and heliolitids. Reef capping and flanking sediments include typical Hirnantian brachiopods, such as Hirnantia , Hindella , and Eospirigerina . Within the reef peloidal microbialites encrusting bryozoan colonies are common. The bryozoan fauna includes three cystoporates, seven trepostomes, and three phylloporines. Two genera and two species are new: the cystoporate Natiscotecella tenuis n. gen. and n. sp. and the phylloporine Dilaminocladia natiscotecensis n. gen. and n. sp. Three more species are also new: the cystoporates Ceramopora clara n. sp. and Acanthoceramoporella spinigera n. sp. and the trepostome Revalotrypa honguedensis n. sp. Furthermore, we identify the three trepostomes Atactoporella aff. ortoni (Nicholson, 1874), Hallopora elegantula (Hall, 1852), and Monotrypella cf. aequalis Ulrich, 1882, and a phylloporine Parachasmatopora porkunensis Lavrentjeva, 1985. Four species are identified at generic level and in open nomenclature: the three trepostomes Lioclemella sp., Calloporella sp., and Trepostomata sp. and a phylloporine ? Ralfinella sp. The bryozoan fauna shows some affinities with the Late Ordovician fauna of Scandinavia. Stable carbon isotope investigations from brachiopod shells of the same outcrop yield values for δ13C of up to +6.7‰, which represent the highest values reported from the Anticosti succession so far. This indicates that the stratigraphic position of the outcrop is at or close to the peak of the globally recognized Hirnantian δ13C excursion.

Paleobiologic and evolutionary significance of corallite increase and associated features inSaffordophyllum newcombae(Tabulata, Late Ordovician, southern Manitoba)

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 404-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Jin Lee ◽  
Robert J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Partial Mortality ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
Tabulate Coral ◽  
History Of ◽  
Direct Ancestor ◽  
Colony Integration ◽  
Peripheral Expansion

Saffordophyllum newcombaeFlower, 1961, displays unique abilities and an unprecedented range in types of corallite increase. Cerioid growth was characteristic, but colonies on soft substrates could grow in a tollinaform manner during early astogeny. The capacity for recovery from damage and partial mortality is amazing. Rejuvenation may have been accompanied by peripheral expansion in some cases. Rapid regeneration could involve axial increase. Circular lacunae that formed during recovery became sites of rapid lateral increase or corallite decrease.Two types of axial increase occurred within coralla. Lateral increase was concentrated mainly along the basal wall and adjacent to certain circular lacunae. In typical cerioid parts of the corallum, lateral increase seldom yielded “adult” corallites, but incipient lateral offsets could be numerous. The level of colony integration was probably moderately high. There was likely soft-tissue continuity among polyps, coordination of polyp behavior, subjugation of individuals for the good of the colony, and perhaps astogenetic control.Saffordophyllum newcombaeis considered to be a tabulate coral, although one type of axial increase is similar to that in a few rugose corals and the other type of axial increase as well as possible peripheral expansion resemble modes of increase in some coralline sponges. Lateral increase is considered compatible with cnidarian rather than poriferan biology. Corallite size is typical of tabulates.Saffordophyllummay not be the direct ancestor of favositid tabulates, and may not even be closely related to them;S. newcombaeis very different fromPaleofavositesandFavosites.The remarkable range in forms of increase discovered inS. newcombaedemonstrates the critical need for detailed paleobiologic studies, if we are to understand the early evolutionary history of corals and to establish reliable criteria for distinguishing various coral groups and homeomorphs.

Paleobiologic significance of fossulae in North American Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals

Paleobiology ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Outer Wall ◽  
Reproductive Activity ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Water Circulation ◽  
Central Cavity ◽  
Foreign Objects ◽  
Rugose Corals

Three features that provide information on the paleobiologic significance of fossulae in North American Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals are (1) irregularities in shape and position of the outer wall, (2) discontiguous septal growth lamellae, and (3) foreign objects incorporated into interseptal chambers within the corallum. Outer wall irregularities indicate that portions of a polyp could detach from the calice and could contract and expand radially by a significant amount and for prolonged periods of time during ontogeny, especially in the vicinity of the alar and cardinal fossulae. Discontiguous lamellae indicate that the polyp could detach from septa and contract laterally, especially in the cardinal fossula. This began with the onset of maturity and probably reflects reproductive activity. Ostracodes are the most common foreign objects in these coralla and are usually situated within or near the cardinal and alar fossulae. In the most likely hypothesis accounting for their presence, a live ostracode entered the calice when one side of the polyp temporarily detached from the corallum and contracted radially. It became trapped upon expansion and reattachment of the soft parts. The polyp moved upward in its corallum by detachment and uplift of the aboral surface. In a less likely hypothesis, the ostracode was captured by the coral for food and came to rest on the floor of the central cavity. It was incorporated into an interseptal chamber when the polyp moved upward in its corallum by atrophy of the aboral surface and formation of a new base above the object. In either hypothesis, portions of the polyp in the cardinal and alar fossulae probably functioned throughout ontogeny for water circulation in the central cavity, and for the intake of food and/or ejection of undigested material through the mouth. Taxonomic, stratigraphic, and paleobiogeographic variability in frequencies of the three features may indicate differences in the necessity and/or ability of polyps to perform these functions involving the fossulae. This could be a reflection of environmental and/or genetic factors.

Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals of the St. Lawrence Lowland, Québec

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 340-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias ◽  
Danita S. Brandt ◽  
T. H. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentation Rate ◽  
Source Area ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Energy Conditions ◽  
Upper Ordovician ◽  
Delta Front ◽  
The North ◽  
Rugose Corals ◽  
Lowland Area

Two species of solitary rugose corals occur in Late Ordovician strata of the St. Lawrence Lowland. Grewingkia canadensis (Billings, 1862) appears in the upper part of the Nicolet River Formation (upper St. Hilaire Member) and is far more common in the overlying Pontgravé River Formation. A single specimen of Streptelasma divaricans (Nicholson, 1875) is known from the Pontgravé River. Their presence confirms that this area is situated within the Richmond Province and that the upper Nicolet River, as well as the Pontgravé River, is Richmondian in age. Solitary Rugosa were introduced to this biogeographic province during an early Richmondian transgression, marked in the upper Nicolet River Formation by a coarser clastic interval. That event permits correlation between the St. Lawrence Lowland in the eastern part of the Richmond Province and the North American type Upper Ordovician (Cincinnatian Series) of the Cincinnati Arch region in the western part of the province.A comparative morphologic, paleoecologic, and biostratinomic analysis of solitary corals indicates that normal, low-energy conditions were interrupted occasionally by high-energy events (probably storms) during deposition of the upper Nicolet River and Pontgravé River Formations. Water depth increased northwestward in the St. Lawrence Lowland area. Deposition of these siliciclastic prodelta to delta front sediments was generally continuous and the sedimentation rate was usually high because of rapid basin subsidence and comparatively close proximity to the Taconic Mountains. In the western part of the Richmond Province, farther from the source area, carbonate as well as clastic sediments accumulated, periods of nondeposition were more frequent, and the sedimentation rate was relatively low. Corals disappeared from the St. Lawrence Lowland area during the Richmondian, when delta top facies of the Bécancour River Formation succeeded the Pontgravé River Formation due to a glacio-eustatic regression and progradation of the Queenston Delta.

Late Ordovician solitary rugose corals preserved in life position

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 739-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Elias ◽  
Caroline J. Buttler
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Late Ordovician ◽  
Rugose Corals

Two Late Ordovician unattached solitary rugose corals from the Beaverfoot Formation in southeastern British Columbia were almost certainly preserved in life position. These unique specimens occur beneath large colonial corals and were thus shielded from high-energy events that overturned and transported other individuals. They confirm previous hypotheses that greatly curved solitary corals lay in the sediment with concave sides facing up and at least partly exposed, whereas slightly curved forms were oriented in more upright positions.

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