Last week on Fossil Friday, we departed our Nevada-centric fossilizing to head east to Kentucky. Fossil Fan Dan Phelps brought us this lovely fossil, from the Strodes Creek Formation, hailing from the Upper Ordovician. What was it? Why, a bryozoan, of course, and Dan suspects it was Constellaria florida. Congratulations to Dan Coleman, who nailed the genus.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:
“Constellaria is a genus of extinct bryozoans (small colonial animals that produce a skeletal framework of calcium carbonate) especially characteristic of Ordovician marine rocks (505 to 438 million years old). The structure of Constellaria is branching and generally flattened front to back with prominent bumps. Constellaria sometimes is found in sedimentary rocks or the shells of other animal.”
The Atlas of Ordovician Life also has some neat pictures of this species in particular.
Thanks to those who played this week! Stay tuned for more fossil fun in the future!
