Cornulitida Explained

Cornulitida is an extinct order of encrusting animals from class Tentaculita, which were common around the globe in the Ordovician to Devonian oceans, and survived until the Carboniferous.^{[1] [2] [3]} Organisms that may be the oldest cornulitids have been found in Cambrian sediments of Jordan.^[4]

Cornulitids had shells, and were subject to predation by boring and other means from the Ordovician onwards. Many survived attacks by predators. Several cornulitids were endobiotic symbionts in the stromatoporoids and tabulates.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Their affinity is unknown; they have been placed in many phyla, and have been considered worms, corals, molluscs and more. They appear to be closely related to other taxa of uncertain affinity, including the microconchids, trypanoporids and tentaculitids.

Notes and References

1. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.12.004 . Attempted predation on Early Paleozoic cornulitids . 2009 . Vinn, O. . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 273 . 1–2 . 87–91 . 2014-06-11.
2. 10.4267/2042/51214 . Cornulitid tubeworms from the Ordovician of eastern Baltic . 2013 . Vinn, O . Carnets de Géologie . 131–138 . 2024-01-31 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062528/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222089797_Attempted_predation_on_Early_Paleozoic_cornulitids . live .
3. 10.4267/2042/53034 . Silurian cornulitids of Estonia (Baltica) . 2013 . Vinn, O . Wilson, M.A. . Carnets de Géologie . 357–368 . free . 2013-12-27 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131227193100/http://paleopolis.rediris.es/cg/CG2013_A09/index.html . dead .
4. Olaf Elicki. First skeletal microfauna from the Cambrian Series 3 of the Jordan Rift Valley (Middle East). January 2011. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists. 42. 42. 153-173.
5. 10.1666/07-056.1 . The earliest endosymbiotic mineralized tubeworms from the Silurian of Podolia, Ukraine . 2008 . Vinn, O. . Mõtus, M.-A. . Journal of Paleontology . 82 . 2 . 409–414 . 131651974 . 2024-01-31 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304062207/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222089801_The_earliest_endosymbiotic_mineralized_tubeworms_from_the_Silurian_of_Podolia_Ukraine . live.
6. 10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0048 . Endosymbiotic Cornulites in the Sheinwoodian (Early Silurian) stromatoporoids of Saaremaa, Estonia . 2010 . Vinn, O. . Wilson, M.A. . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen . 257 . 13–22 . 2024-01-31 . 2023-11-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231106024049/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222089790_Endosymbiotic_Cornulites_in_the_Sheinwoodian_Early_Silurian_stromatoporoids_of_Saaremaa_Estonia . live.
7. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.01.028 . Diverse early endobiotic coral symbiont assemblage from the Katian (Late Ordovician) of Baltica . 2012 . Vinn, O. . Mõtus, M.-A. . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 321–322 . 137–141 . 2024-01-31 . 2023-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231217045501/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/255569552_Diverse_early_endobiotic_coral_symbiont_assemblage_from_the_Katian_Late_Ordovician_of_Baltica . live.