Calathium | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Calathium formosum | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera (?) |
Genus: | †
Calathium Billings 1865 |
Calathium is an extinct genus of organism found in marine beds of Ordovician age. Its classification is enigmatic: It has long been placed among the receptaculites, [1] [2] but it has also been described as a quasi- sponge, [3] possibly akin to the archeocyathids [4] or other hypercalcified sponge. [5] The chief difference from archaeocyathids is that their walls were connected by rods rather than septae. [4]
The organisms were important reef-forming organisms during the Ordovician, forming communities with lithistid sponges that gradually displaced the earlier microbial mounds. [4]
Calathium | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Calathium formosum | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Porifera (?) |
Genus: | †
Calathium Billings 1865 |
Calathium is an extinct genus of organism found in marine beds of Ordovician age. Its classification is enigmatic: It has long been placed among the receptaculites, [1] [2] but it has also been described as a quasi- sponge, [3] possibly akin to the archeocyathids [4] or other hypercalcified sponge. [5] The chief difference from archaeocyathids is that their walls were connected by rods rather than septae. [4]
The organisms were important reef-forming organisms during the Ordovician, forming communities with lithistid sponges that gradually displaced the earlier microbial mounds. [4]