Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.
Parrotfishes are a group of about 90 fish species regarded as a family (Scaridae), or a subfamily (Scarinae) of the wrasses. With about 95 species, this group's largest species richness is in the Indo-Pacific. They are found in coral reefs, rocky coasts, and seagrass beds, and can play a significant role in bioerosion.
Coralline algae are red algae in the order Corallinales. They are characterized by a thallus that is hard because of calcareous deposits contained within the cell walls. The colors of these algae are most typically pink, or some other shade of red, but some species can be purple, yellow, blue, white, or gray-green. Coralline algae play an important role in the ecology of coral reefs. Sea urchins, parrot fish, and limpets and chitons feed on coralline algae. In the temperate Mediterranean Sea, coralline algae are the main builders of a typical algal reef, the Coralligène ("coralligenous"). Many are typically encrusting and rock-like, found in marine waters all over the world. Only one species lives in freshwater. Unattached specimens may form relatively smooth compact balls to warty or fruticose thalli.
Gustaf Lindström was a Swedish paleontologist.
In the geological timescale, the Llandovery Epoch occurred at the beginning of the Silurian Period. The Llandoverian Epoch follows the massive Ordovician-Silurian extinction events, which led to a large decrease in biodiversity and an opening up of ecosystems.
Lithophaga, the date mussels, are a genus of medium-sized marine bivalve molluscs in the family Mytilidae. Some of the earliest fossil Lithophaga shells have been found in Mesozoic rocks from the Alps and from Vancouver Island.
In phylogenetics, basal is the direction of the base of a rooted phylogenetic tree or cladogram. The term may be more strictly applied only to nodes adjacent to the root, or more loosely applied to nodes regarded as being close to the root. Each node in the tree corresponds to a clade; i.e., clade C may be described as basal within a larger clade D if its root is directly linked to the root of D. The terms deep-branching or early-branching are similar in meaning.
Holmipterus is a problematic genus of eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. The type and only species of Holmipterus, H. suecicus, is known from deposits of Middle Silurian age in the Sweden. The generic name honours Gerhard Holm, a renowned Swedish palaeontologist specialising in arthropods and crustaceans, and the species name suecicus is Latin for 'Swedish'.
Gotland is made up of a sequence of sedimentary rocks of a Silurian age, dipping to the south-east. The main Silurian succession of limestones and shales comprises thirteen units spanning 200–500 m (660–1,640 ft) of stratigraphic thickness, being thickest in the south, and overlies a 75–125 m (246–410 ft) thick Ordovician sequence. Precambrian shield rocks that underlie these sediments are found 400 to 500 meters sea level. Sedimentary rocks cropping out in Gotland were deposited in a shallow, hot and salty sea, on the edge of an equatorial continent. The water depth never exceeded 175–200 m (574–656 ft), and shallowed over time as bioherm detritus, and terrestrial sediments, filled the basin. Reef growth started in the Llandovery, when the sea was 50–100 m (160–330 ft) deep, and reefs continued to dominate the sedimentary record. Some sandstones are present in the youngest rocks towards the south of the island, which represent sand bars deposited very close to the shore line.
Homalonotus is an extinct genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida. It contains several species, including H. armatus and H. roemeri. It is closely related to other trilobites such as Arduennella and Dipleura..
Hexagonaria is a genus of colonial rugose coral. Fossils are found in rock formations dating to the Devonian period, about 350 million years ago. Specimens of Hexagonaria can be found in most of the rock formations of the Traverse Group in Michigan. Fossils of this genus form Petoskey stones, the state stone of Michigan.They can be seen and found in most Midwestern states.
Carpilius maculatus common names seven-eleven crab, spotted reef crab, dark-finger coral crab, and large spotted crab, is a species of crab in the family Carpiliidae, which also includes C. convexus and C. corallinus. While there have reports of the C. maculatus as being poisonous, biochemical testing has revealed that they lack any paralytic shellfish toxins.
Caninia is an extinct genus of rugose coral. Its fossils occur worldwide from the Devonian to the Permian periods.
Frodospira is an extinct genus of Lophospiridae, a family of extinct sea snails, fossil marine gastropod mollusks. The genus is found in deposits of the Silurian age in Sweden. It was named in honor of the fictional character Frodo Baggins from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Frodospira cochleata is a species of extinct sea snail in the family Lophospiridae. Fossil specimens from 422.9 and 421.3 million years ago have been found in Sweden at Grogarnsberget, Hemse, and Sandarve kulle, in a hill about a kilometer north of Fardhem Church. A species of epifaunal filter feeder, it had a slender, turriculate shell consisting of twelve to thirteen whorls.
Holophragma calceoloides is an extinct species of rugose coral known from Silurian layers mainly on, but not limited to, the northwestern coast of Gotland, where it is very common. The species was recognised in 1866 by Gustaf Lindström. It was small and benthic, and always solitary.
Holophragma mitrata is an extinct species of Rugose coral mainly known from the island of Gotland. It is horn shaped and can grow to about 40mm in length. The calyx is relatively deep and the septa runs from its ridge to the floor. The cardinal septa is not very dominant. It was described by Schlotheim in the year 1820 under the name Hippurites mitratus.
Phaulactis cyathophylloides is an extinct species of rugose coral known from the silurian layers of Gotland, and Estonia. It is the type species of the genus Phaulactis and was described by Ryder in 1926. It can grow to relatively large sizes.
Leptaena is an extinct genus of mid-sized brachiopod that existed from the Dariwilian epoch to the Emsian epoch, though some specimens have been found in strata as late in age as the Tournasian epoch. Like some other Strophomenids, Lepteana were epifaunal, meaning they lived on top of the seafloor, not buried within it, and were suspension feeders.
The mitered langur is a species of monkey in the family Cercopithecidae. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Sumatran surili, Presbytis melalophos but genetic analysis revealed that these are separate species. The mitered langur is native to the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is listed as endangered by the IUCN due primarily to deforestation, and also due to animals taken for pets.
