| P number: | P549518 |
|---|---|
| Caption: | Pseudodiplocaenia oblonga, a fossil coral. |
| Description: | Pseudodiplocaenia is a scleractinian coral that lived during the late Jurassic, about 140 million years ago. Its numerous radiating septa give each corallite a stellate appearance and for this reason they were once called 'star stones'. In 1677, Robert Plot described star stones, including ''Astroites, which in the whole are irregular, but adorned as it were with a constellation.' He didn't know what they were, but thought they were 'formed of some latent plastik power of the Earth' or 'some way related to the Celestial Bodies'. Pseudodiplocaenia oblonga, the 'Wiltshire Star stone', is a colonial coral found in the Portlandian rocks of southern England. It comprises polygonal corallites that were strengthened by well-formed septa, the main ones being in groups of six. These corals were originally made of aragonite, but as a result of fossilisation, the aragonite was replaced by calcite. At the end of the Permian (248 million years ago), there was a mass extinction event. The rugose and tabulate corals went into extinction, and a new group of corals the Scleractinian corals, evolved. These live in warm shallow waters, where some colonial types form fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls, as well as in deeper waters where they form large banks. Others are smaller solitary corals. |
| Photographer: | Unknown |
| Copyright statement: | NERC |
| Orientation: | Landscape |
| Size: | 564.46 KB; 1000 x 789 pixels; 85 x 67 mm (print at 300 DPI); 265 x 209 mm (screen at 96 DPI); |
| Average Rating: | Not yet rated |
| Categories: | Best of BGS Images/ Fossils |
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