Fossils of Australia
‘Spinella’ Brachiopod fossil
‘Spinella’ Brachiopod fossil from Yass Australia
Australian Silurian. Silurian to Early Devonian 436-390 mya
Phylum Brachiopoda, having bivalve dorsal and ventral shells enclosing a pair of tentacled, armlike structures that are used to sweep minute food particles into the mouth.
‘Spinella’ Brachiopod
‘Spinella’ Brachiopod fossil from Yass Australia
Australian Silurian. Silurian to Early Devonian 436-390 mya
Phylum Brachiopoda, having bivalve dorsal and ventral shells enclosing a pair of tentacled, armlike structures that are used to sweep minute food particles into the mouth.
Spiriferid are brachiopods filtering feeders that fed on organic particles washed around by the ocean currents. The valves (each shell side) has pronounced folds and sulcus (furrow, fissures). They lived in mud by anchoring to the sea floor with a fleshy stalk called a pedicle that protruded from the shell’s hinge. Specimen from the South Coast of NSW.