9.4: Major Fossil-Forming Groups (Invertebrates)

Now that we know how to describe fossils, we can start to identify them. Here you will find a brief overview of the major invertebrate fossil forming groups organized taxonomically. In most cases the information presented here can get you to the taxonomic level of Order. If you want to learn more, consider taking an invertebrate paleontology course, attempting Lab 8: Fossils in "The Story of Earth - An Observational Guide", or browsing the detailed explanations, photographs, and three dimensional models available at the Paleontological Research Institute's Digital Atlas of Ancient Life webpage or fossilid.info

Porifera (Sponges)

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Photograph showing sponge biodiversity and morphotypes in the Caribbean Sea, Cayman Islands. May 23, 2007.   Included are the yellow tube sponge (Aplysina fistularis), the purple vase sponge (Niphates digitalis), the red encrusting sponge (Spiratrella coccinea), and the gray rope sponge (Callyspongia sp). Caribbean Sea, Cayman Islands. May 23, 2007 (NOAA Photo Library via Flickr; CC BY 2.0).

 

Sponges evolved in the Precambrian but their fossil record doesn't really start until the Cambrian Period. There are three important characteristics used for classification of sponges: 1) the body plan of the soft tissue, 2) the composition of the skeleton, and 3) spicule morphology (if present). Sponge skeletons can be composed of spongin, a fibrous protein (think of a bath sponge that can soak up water), carbonate, and/or silica. In some cases these mineral components exist as small needle like crystals called spicules. Sponge fossils can be divided up into the following Classes: Archaeocyatha, Demospongiae, Hexactinellida, Stromatoporoidea, Homocleromorpha, and Calcarea. The preceding hyperlinks provide links to the relevant webpages in the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life; there is also an excellent collection of sponge photographs at fossilid.info.

Sponge fossils are mostly found in marine settings but some groups live in freshwater environments. Their fossils range from the Cambrian to the present.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Classes of Porifera and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Cnidaria (Corals)

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Photograph the sun coral (Tubastraea sp. - a scleractinian coral).  This non-native coral that has successfully colonized artificial habitats in the Gulf of Mexico along the southeast coast of Florida, and the Florida Keys (FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute via Flickr; CC BY-NC-ND).

 

Corals belong to the Phylum Cnidaria which also includes jelly fish, sea fans, and sea anemones (among others). These organisms all share the following characteristics: radial symmetry, two tissue types (they are diploblastic), and the presence of venomous stinging cells called nematocysts. The group evolved in the Precambrian but the major coral Orders did not appear until the Ordovician. Corals make up the bulk of the fossil record for Cnidaria because they are the only group that produces a carbonate skeleton. Fossil identification of corals is based on those mineralized skeletons by looking at life mode (did the coral live as a colony or as a solitary individual) and internal structure within the holes that coral animal lived in. The major fossil forming groups of corals include tabulate corals, rugose corals, and scleractinian corals. For more detailed information, pictures of coral fossils, and 3D models, please visit the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life webpage which contains details about rugose, tabulate, and scleractinian corals or fossilid.info's pages on rugose and tabulate corals.

Coral fossils are only found in marine settings and range from the Cambrian to the present.

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Orders of Coral and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Lophoporhata (Brachiopods and Bryozoans)

The Phylum Lophophorhata includes brachiopods and bryozoans. These groups are united in that they have a special feeding organ called a lophophore and exhibit bilateral symmetry. Otherwise it can be hard to believe the two groups are related because they look so different! Brachiopods are shelled solitary organisms while bryozoans are colonial organism that can look similar to corals! Because both groups produce mineralized skeletons, they have excellent fossil records. The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life webpage has an excellent discussion of brachiopods vs bivalves.

Brachiopoda

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Photograph the extant inarticulate brachiopod Lingula anatina (Wilson44691 via Wikimedia Commons; public domain).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Photograph of North Pacific Lampshell (Terebratalia transversa), an extant articulate brachiopod (Marilynne Box via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 4.0).

 

Brachiopods are valved (two-shelled) organisms that live in aquatic settings. While they superficially look similar to bivalves, brachiopod valves are not mirror images of each other (that is, the line of symmetry is not across the hinge). Instead, the line of symmetry is across the valve. Brachiopod classification is based on multiple morphological characteristics of the shells. Most important among these characteristics is the length of the hinge line (the line the two valves make where the shell rotates open/close) and the symmetry of the two valves relative to each other. The brachiopod webpages in the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info provide pictures, models, and a fuller discussion of these organisms.

Brachiopod fossils are only found in marine settings. While the group does range from the Cambrian to the present, only a few make it into the Cenozoic.

Figure \(\PageIndex{7a}\): Brachiopod Orders and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

Figure \(\PageIndex{7b}\): Brachiopod Orders and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Bryozoa

Figure \(\PageIndex{8}\): Photograph of a colony of the modern marine bryozoan Flustra foliacea (Hans Hillewaert via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0).

 

Bryozoans are colonial organisms where each animal in the colony is a clone. Each of these clones is called a zooid and each zooid lives inside a small chamber called a zoecium. All the zoecium are arranged together to form a colony. Classification of bryozoans is based on the shape of the zooid and the colony arrangement. For proper identification of bryozoans, it is best to look at colony structure and arrangement under the microscope. For field identification, using the growth forms can be very useful for identifying most of the major bryozoan Orders. Bryozoans can exhibit massive, branching, lacy, or encrusting growth forms. The bryozoan pages at the Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info provide pictures, models, and a fuller discussion of these organisms.

Bryozoans are mostly found in marine environments but some groups exist in freshwater settings. The group ranges from the Ordovician to the present but many of the groups go extinct in the Triassic.

Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\): Fossil bryozoan Orders and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Mollusca

Figure \(\PageIndex{10}\): Photograph of an angel wing bivalve (Cyrtopleura costata), an elongate bivalve that burrows into hard substrates by slowly rotating its shell like a drill bit (MerlinCharon via https://animalia.bio/cyrtopleura-costata; CC0).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{11}\): Photograph of  a grapevine snail (Helix pomatia), a species of air-breathing land snail (Jürgen Schoner via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{12}\): Photograph of  a nautilus, an extant coiled nautiloid cephalopod (Manuae via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 3.0).

 

Many groups in the phylum of Mollusca have mineralized hard parts, so the fossil record of this group is extensive but identification can be difficult as classification is based on soft tissue. Here we will focus on some of the most common and easily identifiable fossil groups: Bivalvia, Gastropoda, and Cephalopoda. Bivalves consist of two valves and are classified based on soft tissue features like their gill system and siphon (an organ used for respiration and reproduction). Because these features do not fossilize well, fossil identification is based on scars the soft tissue leaves on the shells as well as how the valves are articulated (dentition). Gastropods, which includes snails and slugs, suffer from the same difficultly with some groups losing the shell all together. Cephalopods, are the most straightforward group to identify. We can use the shape of their shell, the complexity of the internal walls (septa) in those shells, and the positioning of the siphuncle (a canal that connects the chambers of the shell) to identify four of the five Subclasses that belong to the group.

For pictures and more information please visit the following websites:

• Bivalves - Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info
• Gastropods - Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info
• Cephalopods - Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info

Mollusca are found in all types of environments but cephalopods are exclusively marine. The group ranges from the Cambrian to the present.

Figure \(\PageIndex{13a}\): Common fossil forming mollusca Classes (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{13b}\): Some common fossil forming Classes that belong to the Phylum Mollusca, Subphylum Diasoma (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{13c}\): Cephalopod Subclasses and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Arthropoda

Figure \(\PageIndex{14}\): Living ostracod (a type of arthropod) showing real time swimming motion (Ikjbagl via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{15}\): Living barnacles (a type of arthropod) surround themselves with a ring of calcareous plates (paweesit via Flickr; CC BY-ND 2.0).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{16}\): Photograph of a trilobite fossil (Selenopeltis sp.); trilobites are an extinct type of arthropod (Kevin Walsh via Flickr; CC BY-ND 2.0).

 

The Phylum of Arthropods is the most diverse of the animal kingdom and includes groups like insects (Hexapoda), crustaceans, and trilobites. These groups are united in that they have jointed appendages, segmented bodies, and an exoskeleton. Because many of those exoskeletons are not exceptionally robust, the fossil record of this group does not quite match the Phylum's abundance and diversity in the modern. The most notable fossil group is the Subphylum Trilobitomorpha. Classification in this group is based on the number of thorax segments, the shape and size of the third body segment (pygidium), the shape and size of the head (cephalon), the shape and position of the stomach (glabella), among other characteristics. Because many of the trilobite Orders have relatively short stratigraphic ranges, this group is commonly used for biostratigraphy. The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life's arthropod, trilobite, and crustacean webpages and fossilid.info's trilobite, chelicerate, and insect pages provide images and more discussion of these organisms.

Arthropods are found in all types of environments and range from the Cambrian to present. Trilobites are only found in marine settings and go extinct at the end of the Permian.

Figure \(\PageIndex{17a}\): The Subphyla of Arthropods (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{17b}\): The Orders of Trilobites and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

Echinodermata

Figure \(\PageIndex{18}\): Photograph of a living reticulated starfish (Oreaster reticulatus).  Most starfish are distinctively pentaradial, with five arms. Numerous tube feet occur in the ambulacral grooves running down the axis of each arm's underside. Many starfish are predatory and consume prey by everting their stomachs through their mouths (center structure on underside) and digest food externally. Oreaster reticulatus is predatory on a variety of invertebrates and is also a deposit feeder (James St. John via Flickr; CC BY 2.0).

Figure \(\PageIndex{19}\): Photograph of a living stalked crinoid (NOAA Photo Library via Flickr; CC BY 2.0).

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{20}\): Photograph of living sand dollars (arbyreed via Flickr; CC BY-NC-SA).

 

The Echinoderm Phylum includes starfish, sea urchins, and crinoids (among others). The shared characteristics of this Phylum include five-fold (pentaradial) symmetry, a water vascular system (water is pumped through the body for respiration and locomotion), and a mesoderm skeleton composed of porous plates of calcite crystals. Echinoderms are divided into two Subphyla: Eleutherozoa (non-stemmed) and Pelmatozoa (stemmed). Many of the calcite plates that make up the mesoderm skeleton are not fussed together so the fossil record of this group includes lots of disaggregated echinoderm plates in additional to complete body fossils. The echinoderm webpages at the The Digital Atlas of Ancient Life and fossilid.info provide more pictures and discussion of these organisms.

Echinoderms are only found in marine environments and range from the Cambrian to the present.

Figure \(\PageIndex{21a}\): Classes that belong to the un-stemmed (Eleutherozoa) echinoderms and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA)

 

Figure \(\PageIndex{21b}\): Classes that belong to the stemmed (Pelmatoza) echinoderms and how to identify them (Page Quinton via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0)