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Coral
A bottom-dwelling marine invertebrate organism of the Class Anthozoa.
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This cross-section of fossilized coral in limy sandstone comes from the
Glenwood area in central Newfoundland.
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Ammonite
Ammonites are ancient cephalopod molluscs that were particularly abundant
during the time of the dinosaurs.
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This is a cross-section of an ammonite from western Canada. The living
organism lived in the chamber at the end of the spiral. As it grew
larger, it formed a new chamber. The animal had tentacles that it used
to catch its food.
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Stromatolite
Stromatolites are internally layered, mat or mound structures produced
by sediment trapping, binding, and/or precipitation as the result of
the activity of blue-green algae (cyanophytes).
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Concentrically banded (growth features) mounds or mats consisting of
calcium carbonate (limestone) and silt that is part of an old
blue-green algae colony. They form large limestone (calcium carbonate)
deposits in western Newfoundland.
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Brachiopods and Gastropods
Brachiopods are a type of shelled animal with two unequal shell halves
that usually lived attached to the seafloor by a stalk. Gastropods refer
to any mollusc belong to the Class Gastropoda characterized by a
distinct head with eyes and tentacles, and, in most, by a single
calcareous shell that is closed at the apex (e.g., a snail).
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Shelly limestone made from the shelly remains of sea creatures that
accumulated on the seafloor. Brachiopods are the ribbed fan-shaped
fossils in the centre of the picture. Gastropods are the spiral-shaped
fossils in the lower left-hand corner. Brachiopods and gastropods are
common fossils in central and western Newfoundland.
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Trilobites
Ancient marine animals that lived millions of years ago. They were
arthropods and were covered by a tough exterior skeleton that
was divided into three main parts - head, body and tail. As they grew,
they shed their skeleton to grow a larger one. Modern relatives include
crabs and lobsters. Trilobites first appeared about 550 million years
ago and became extinct about 240 million years ago.
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This well-preserved trilobite surrounded by a matrix of trilobite
fragments was collected from the Manuel's River area, near St. John's.
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Precambrian Primitive Fossils
Some of the oldest fossils found in the world are about 570 million
years old and are related to the present-day jellyfish and sea anemones.
They were soft-bodied creatures without a skeleton or shell, and were
only preserved because they were rapidly covered with fine-grained
volcanic ash.
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These specimens are found at Mistaken Point, near Cape Race on the
Avalon Peninsula. The photo on the left shows the preserved impressions or casts
of soft-bodied, multicellular organisms of Precambrian age. Two
varieties, ribbed and spindle-shaped forms, are shown in the photograph.
The photo on the right shows a frond-like form with a
disc-shaped structure to the left. This disc may represent a circular
anchorage for the once-upright frond-like form.
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