Favosites

Favosites
Temporal range: Ordovician - Permian
Favosites sp. from the Upper Ordovician of southern Indiana.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Tabulata
Family: Favositidae
Genus: Favosites
Lamarck 1816

Favosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites (giving it the common name "honeycomb coral").[1] The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites like all coral thrived in warm sunlit seas, forming colorful reefs, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Boardman, R.S. (1987). Fossil Invertebrates. Blackwell. p. 714.
  2. ↑ Feldman, R.M.; Hackathorn (1996). Fossils of Ohio. Ohio Division of Geological Survey Bulletin 70. p. 577.
Sagittal cross-section of Favosites showing communication pores between the corallites. Upper Ordovician of southern Indiana.
Stereo image
Right frame 
More polished Favosites fossil.
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