Corals through Time
2nd November 2008

The rock pools down the hill from our house contain a variety of species of living corals (more than a hundred species in fourteen families have been documented in these coastal communities, Claereboudt 2006). The house is built on Eocene limestones that also contain corals, some of them beautifully silicifed. In the Hajar mountains behind us corals can also be found in Permian limestones and other reef building forms also occur, such as rudist bivalves in the Cretaceous and algal stromatolites and thrombolites in the Ediacaran.

Here are some images of corals, ranging in age from the Ordovician to the present. They come from North America, Germany, the United Kingdom and Oman. Subclasses Tabulata, Rugosa and Zoantharia are all represented.

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Tetradium cellulosum, complete 16 cm tabulate coral (Order Tetradiida) head with associated bryozoans, ostracods, crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and trilobite parts. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry, Oklahoma, USA.
Tetradium cellulosum, complete 16 cm tabulate coral (Order Tetradiida) head with associated bryozoans, ostracods, crinoids, brachiopods, bivalves, gastropods and trilobite parts. Poolville Member, Bromide Formation, Dunn Quarry, Oklahoma, USA.
 Favosites favosus (Order Favositida) 3 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
Favosites favosus (Order Favositida) 3 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
 Favosites venustum (Order Favositida) 6.5 cm colonial coral with encrusting bryozoans. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
Favosites venustum (Order Favositida) 6.5 cm colonial coral with encrusting bryozoans. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
 Enterolasma calcuium, 3.5 cm and Favosites venustum 1.5 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
Enterolasma calcuium, 3.5 cm and Favosites venustum 1.5 cm colonial coral. Rochester Shale, Middle Silurian, Caleb’s Quarry, New York, USA.
Pleurodictyum sp, a 12 mm juvenile compound coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany.
Pleurodictyum sp, a 12 mm juvenile compound coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany.
 Zaphrentis sp., a solitary coral, 45 mm long. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany.
Zaphrentis sp., a solitary coral, 45 mm long. Hunsruckschiefer, Early Devonian, Bundenbach, Germany.
 Charactophyllum nanum, 78 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA.
Charactophyllum nanum, 78 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA.
 Pachyphyllum crassicostatum, 47 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA.
Pachyphyllum crassicostatum, 47 mm. Lime Creek Formation Rockford, Iowa, USA.
Hexagonaria occidens, 46 mm. Martin Formation, Jerome Member Pine, Arizona, USA.
Hexagonaria occidens, 46 mm. Martin Formation, Jerome Member Pine, Arizona, USA.
 Halysites catenularius (Order Halysitida) , 70 mm. Devonian. Muscatine, Iowa, USA.
Halysites catenularius (Order Halysitida) , 70 mm. Devonian. Muscatine, Iowa, USA.
 Calceola sandalina 25 mm. Mid Devonian. Skaly, Eifel, Poland.
Calceola sandalina 25 mm. Mid Devonian. Skaly, Eifel, Poland.
 View of operculum.
View of operculum.
Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK.
Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK.
 Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK.
Michelinia tenuisepta, 55 mm coral, Order Favositida, Family Micheliniidae. Visean, Lower Carboniferous, Avon, UK.
 Lonsdaleia floriformis (Fleming), 9 cm colony, Family Axophyllidae. Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, UK.
Lonsdaleia floriformis (Fleming), 9 cm colony, Family Axophyllidae. Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, UK.
 Lithostrotion portlocki (Bronn), 85 mm polished colonial coral, Family Lithostrotionidae. Visean, Ribblehead, Yorkshire, UK.
Lithostrotion portlocki (Bronn), 85 mm polished colonial coral, Family Lithostrotionidae. Visean, Ribblehead, Yorkshire, UK.
Thecosmilia annularis (Fleming), 7 cm coral. Corallian Beds, Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, England.
Thecosmilia annularis (Fleming), 7 cm coral. Corallian Beds, Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Steeple Ashton, Wiltshire, England.
 Isastrea limitata, 9 cm. Great Oolite. Gloucestershire, UK.
Isastrea limitata, 9 cm. Great Oolite. Gloucestershire, UK.
 10 cm silicified coral, Pseudodiplocoenia oblonga from the Portlandian Jurassic Portland Beds. Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK.
10 cm silicified coral, Pseudodiplocoenia oblonga from the Portlandian Jurassic Portland Beds. Tisbury, Wiltshire, UK.
Isastrea sp, 4.6 cm polished specimen. Fault-scarp boulder beds. Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Helmsdale,Scotland.
Isastrea sp, 4.6 cm polished specimen. Fault-scarp boulder beds. Oxfordian, Upper Jurassic. Helmsdale,Scotland.
Parasmilia fittoni, 27 mm coral. Upper Chalk, Campanian. East Harnham, Wiltshire, UK.
Parasmilia fittoni, 27 mm coral. Upper Chalk, Campanian. East Harnham, Wiltshire, UK.
 Goniopora websteri, Family Poritidae. Marsh Farm Formation at Bracklesam Bay, West Sussex, England. Seven species of this genus can be found living in the coastal waters near Muscat.
Goniopora websteri, Family Poritidae. Marsh Farm Formation at Bracklesam Bay, West Sussex, England. Seven species of this genus can be found living in the coastal waters near Muscat.
 Porites sp. coral, detail of 9 cm colony. Corallites are 1 mm or less in diameter. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman.
Porites sp. coral, detail of 9 cm colony. Corallites are 1 mm or less in diameter. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman.
 Detail of spectacular flabello-meandroid colonial coral, 23 cm. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman. The only modern flabello-meandroid coral in Oman is Euphyllia divisa (Claereboudt 2006). ?Flabellum sp (e.g. F. Clarki known from the Eocene of California).
Detail of spectacular flabello-meandroid colonial coral, 23 cm. Eocene (Lutetian), Seeb Formation. Ras Al Hamra, near Muscat, Oman. The only modern flabello-meandroid coral in Oman is Euphyllia divisa (Claereboudt 2006). ?Flabellum sp (e.g. F. Clarki known from the Eocene of California).
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