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Nathan Newell posted an image in the group Bodacious Brachiopods from the myFOSSIL app 5 years, 1 month ago
5 years, 1 month ago5 years, 1 month agoThis is an interesting little brachiopod I found near Capon Lake, WV. I’m wondering what the holes all over the shell are. Maybe they’re actually bryozoans covering the shell? Or maybe they’re from a predator trying to dig into the shell? 🤔 #fossil
OHHHHH good guesses but I think I know the answer! Even better – punctae! These are little holes and peaks in the brachiopods shell that can create very complex geometric mesh patterns. I couldn’t find any good links quickly, all super technical stuff online. Can anyone second this idea?
I think I’ve seen something about punctate structure in some of Art Boucot’s notes and I agree with Jen.
@jbauer @mackenzie-smith Oh cool! I’ll look into punctae some more. Thanks!
Let us know if you get paywalled and we can try to help out with getting papers you may want. I haven’t gotten to look into it much more but it is a really fascinating aspect of morphology.
Awesome, thanks! My old copy of Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology didn’t have much on it, so I’ll have to scrounge around.