Sphenothallus

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Extinct genus of aquatic animals

title: "Sphenothallus" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["burgess-shale-fossils", "staurozoa"] description: "Extinct genus of aquatic animals" topic_path: "general/burgess-shale-fossils" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphenothallus" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Extinct genus of aquatic animals ::

| taxon = Sphenothallus | fossil_range = | image = SphenothallidHoldfastOrdovician.jpg | image_caption = Sphenothallus holdfast from the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician), Gunpowder Creek, Kentucky. | authority = Hall, 1847

Sphenothallus is a problematic extinct genus lately attributed to the conulariids. It was widespread in shallow marine environments during the Paleozoic.{{cite journal | doi = 10.4202/app.00049.2013 | title = Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure | year = 2015 | author = Vinn, O. | author2 = Kirsimäe, K. | journal = Acta Palaeontologica Polonica | volume = 60 | pages = 1001–1008 | url = https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app000492013.html | accessdate = 2014-06-11| doi-access = free

Occurrence

Sphenothallus is represented in the Cambrian period in the Kaili biota and the Mount Stephen trilobite beds, where it co-occurs with the similar organisms Cambrorhythium and Byronia. It is known in younger strata in Canada and the US, surviving at least until the Mississippian.

Ecology

Sphenothallus lived in groups as an opportunist in environments from hardgrounds to soft mud, even if depleted in oxygen. It probably dispersed via larvae.

Notes

References

References

  1. (1989). "Paleoecology of Sphenothallus on an Upper Ordovician hardground". Lethaia.
  2. (2002). "First Report of Sphenothallus Hall, 1847 in the Middle Cambrian". Journal of Paleontology.
  3. (2000). "Paleoecologic and Taxonomic Implications Ofsphenothallusandsphenothallus-Like Specimens from Ohio and Areas Adjacent to Ohio". Journal of Paleontology.

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burgess-shale-fossilsstaurozoa