2.3" Thamnopora SP Coral Fossil Coral Reef Devonian Age Verde Valley, Arizona

Location: Martin Formation, Verde Valley, Arizona, United States

Weight: 1.6 Ounces  

Dimensions: 2.3 Inches Long, 1.3 Inches Wide,1.1 Inches Thick 

Devonian Age 380 Million Years Old

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

Thamnopora SP Fossil Coral

The Devonian period, commencing roughly 410 million years ago, witnessed coral organisms establishing themselves as architects of Earth's inaugural reef ecosystems. These primordial reef communities were principally composed of stromatoporoids—sponge-like reef constructors—in concert with tabulate corals exhibiting varied architectural forms, including domed and branching configurations, rugose corals distinguished by their conical structure, and nascent coralline algae species that adorned substrate surfaces with polychromatic patterns. The epoch culminated in the inaugural appearance of scleractinian corals, the progenitors of contemporary reef-dominant species. This flourishing coral assemblage persisted until approximately 350 million years before present, when corals underwent sudden extirpation from the paleontological record. While the precise etiology remains enigmatic, paleoclimatic evidence implicates pronounced oscillations in marine transgression-regression cycles coupled with a marked atmospheric carbon dioxide depletion as causative factors in this biotic event.