Receptaculites

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title: "Receptaculites" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["paleozoic-plants", "ulvophyceae-genera", "fossil-algae", "early-ordovician-first-appearances", "permian-genus-extinctions", "paleozoic-life-of-ontario", "paleozoic-life-of-alberta", "paleozoic-life-of-british-columbia", "paleozoic-life-of-manitoba", "paleozoic-life-of-newfoundland-and-labrador", "paleozoic-life-of-the-northwest-territories", "paleozoic-life-of-nunavut", "paleozoic-life-of-quebec"] description: "Extinct genus of algae" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receptaculites" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of algae ::

| fossil_range = | image = Receptaculitid.JPG | image_caption = Receptaculitid from the Ordovician of Estonia. | taxon = Receptaculites | authority = Defrance 1827 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision =

• R. arcticus Etheridge
• R. biconstrictus E.O.Ulrich
• R. maeandriformis A.N.Ivanov
• R. monticulatus
• R. neptuni Defrance
• R. occidentalis

Receptaculites is the name-bearing genus for an extinct group of conspicuous benthic marine genera, the receptaculitids (formally Receptaculitaceae or Receptaculitidae), that lived from the Early Ordovician through the Permian period, peaking in the Middle Ordovician. The group's phylogenetic origin has long been obscure, with some arguing that they were calcareous algae, probably of the order Dasycladales. Receptaculitids lived in warm, shallow seas, They have been described from all continents except Antarctica. In some areas they were important reef-formers, and they also occur as isolated specimens.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/KimmswickOzoraMidOrdReceptaculitid.jpg" caption="Receptaculitid from the [[Kimmswick Limestone]] (Middle Ordovician) near [[Ozora, Missouri]]."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Receptaculites_oweni.jpg" caption="''Receptaculites oweni'', late Ordovician, [[Red River Formation]], Garson, [[Manitoba]]."] ::

Receptaculites and its relatives have a double-spiral, radiating pattern of rhombus-shaped plates supported by spindle-like objects called meroms. Fossils can usually be identified by the intersecting patterns of clockwise and counterclockwise rows of plates or stalk spaces, superficially similar to the arrangement of disk florets on a sunflower—hence the common name "sunflower coral" (sic).

Receptaculitids have sometimes been compared to the morphologically similar, but probably distantly related, cyclocrinitids.

Some dolomitic limestone deposits, such as Tyndall stone in Manitoba, Canada, are particularly rich in Receptaculites fossils.

References

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Tyndal_Stone_with_fossil.jpg" caption="Tyndall limestone]] from [[Manitoba]], [[Canada]]."] ::

References

1. "Family: Receptaculitidae". The Paleobiology Database.
2. Byrnes, J.G. 1968. Notes on the nature and environmental significance of the Receptaculitaceae. Lethaia, vol. 1, p. 368-381.
3. (1991). "Calcareous Algae and Stromatolites".
4. (2004). "The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event".
5. Rietschel, S. and Nitecki, M.H. 1984. Ordovician Receptaculitid algae from Burma. Palaeontology, vol. 27, p. 415-420.
6. {{AlgaeBase genus
7. Pratt, B.R. and Weissenberger, J., 1988. Fore-slope Receptaculitid mounds from the Frasnian of the Rocky Mountains, Alberta. In: Reefs: Canada and adjacent areas, Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 13, p. 510-513.
8. Wilson, Mark. (2017-02-10). "Wooster's Fossil of the Week: A receptaculitid (Middle Ordovician of Missouri)".
9. (November 1997). "Missouri Fossils". Rocks & Minerals.
10. (31 December 2004). "31. Receptaculitids and Algae". The Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event.
11. (January 1988). "Dasyclads, cyclocrinitids and receptaculitids: comparative morphology and paleoecology". Lethaia.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::