(LINKS TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)
Community College (LRCCD)
Geology & Earth Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Happy Fossil
Friday!
Friday December 11, 2020
Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Brachiopod Aperispirifer
Wairakiensis
This
is Aperispirifer wairakiensis, a Permian brachiopod. Brachiopods, also known as
lamp shells, are a group of filter-feeding marine animals that first arose in
the early Cambrian stage (about 550 million years ago).
The fossil record of brachiopods is quite diverse and
many families went extinct over time. Nowadays brachiopods are much less
common, however they occupy a variety of marine environments, from the tropics
to the poles. This specimen is 285.0 - 276.0 million years old and was found in
Letham Burn, Southland.
Brachiopods vary considerably in size with the largest growing up to 30 centimetres across and the smallest only two or three millimetres across - about the size of a large pin head.
This one measures about 7 cm across.
View
a short video on brachiopods from the Cooper Channel
Brachiopod
fossil showing upper and lower valves (shells)
Clams
instead have right and left valves (shells)
Location
where this fossil was found
NOTE:
Corrections are always appreciated!
Attribution: This page adapted from GNS Science