Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure

Sphenothallus is a problematic fossil with possible cnidarian affinities. Two species of Sphenothallus, S. aff. longissimus and S. kukersianus, occur in the normal marine sediments of the Late Ordovician of Estonia. S. longissimus is more common than S. kukersianus and has a range from early Sandbia...

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Main Authors: Olev Vinn, Kalle Kirsimäe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Paleobiology PAS 2015-12-01
Series:Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app60/app000492013.pdf
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author Olev Vinn
Kalle Kirsimäe
author_facet Olev Vinn
Kalle Kirsimäe
author_sort Olev Vinn
collection DOAJ
description Sphenothallus is a problematic fossil with possible cnidarian affinities. Two species of Sphenothallus, S. aff. longissimus and S. kukersianus, occur in the normal marine sediments of the Late Ordovician of Estonia. S. longissimus is more common than S. kukersianus and has a range from early Sandbian to middle Katian. Sphenothallus had a wide paleo-biogeographic distribution in the Late Ordovician. The tubes of Sphenothallus are composed of lamellae with a homo-geneous microstructure. The homogeneous microstructure could represent a diagenetic fabric, based on the similarity to diagenetic structures in Torellella (Cnidaria?, Hyolithelminthes). Tubes of Sphenothallus have an apatitic composition, but one tube contains lamellae of diagenetic calcite within the apatitic structure. Sphenothallus presumably had origi-nally biomineralized apatitic tubes. Different lattice parameters of the apatite indicate that biomineralization systems of phosphatic cnidarians Sphenothallus and Conularia sp. may have been different.
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spelling doaj.art-62332cecc9bb40168f7d91a0984fcb2e2022-12-22T01:14:22ZengInstitute of Paleobiology PASActa Palaeontologica Polonica0567-79201732-24212015-12-016041001100810.4202/app.00049.2013Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructureOlev Vinn0Kalle Kirsimäe1Department of Geology, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50411 Tartu, EstoniaDepartment of Geology, University of Tartu, Ravila 14A, 50411 Tartu, EstoniaSphenothallus is a problematic fossil with possible cnidarian affinities. Two species of Sphenothallus, S. aff. longissimus and S. kukersianus, occur in the normal marine sediments of the Late Ordovician of Estonia. S. longissimus is more common than S. kukersianus and has a range from early Sandbian to middle Katian. Sphenothallus had a wide paleo-biogeographic distribution in the Late Ordovician. The tubes of Sphenothallus are composed of lamellae with a homo-geneous microstructure. The homogeneous microstructure could represent a diagenetic fabric, based on the similarity to diagenetic structures in Torellella (Cnidaria?, Hyolithelminthes). Tubes of Sphenothallus have an apatitic composition, but one tube contains lamellae of diagenetic calcite within the apatitic structure. Sphenothallus presumably had origi-nally biomineralized apatitic tubes. Different lattice parameters of the apatite indicate that biomineralization systems of phosphatic cnidarians Sphenothallus and Conularia sp. may have been different.http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app60/app000492013.pdfCnidaria?SphenothallusapatitemicrostructureOrdovicianSandbianKatianEstonia
spellingShingle Olev Vinn
Kalle Kirsimäe
Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
Cnidaria?
Sphenothallus
apatite
microstructure
Ordovician
Sandbian
Katian
Estonia
title Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
title_full Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
title_fullStr Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
title_full_unstemmed Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
title_short Alleged cnidarian Sphenothallus in the Late Ordovician of Baltica, its mineral composition and microstructure
title_sort alleged cnidarian sphenothallus in the late ordovician of baltica its mineral composition and microstructure
topic Cnidaria?
Sphenothallus
apatite
microstructure
Ordovician
Sandbian
Katian
Estonia
url http://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app60/app000492013.pdf
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