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]
Cornulitida Temporal range:
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Cornulitid on a brachiopod valve (Upper Ordovician, SE Indiana) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Class: | †Tentaculita |
Order: | †Cornulitida Boucek, 1964 |
Genera | |
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Cornulitids had shells, and were subject to predation by boring and other means from the Ordovician onwards. Many survived attacks by predators.[1] 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.[1] They appear to be closely related to other taxa of uncertain affinity, including the microconchids, trypanoporids and tentaculitids.[1]