Easter Special 5.4" Fenestella Fossil Bryozoan Moss Animal Upper Ordovician Age Macao Portugal - Ships Same Day [7OJvf6TA]

Location: Macao, Portugal

Weight: 14 Ounces

Dimensions: 5.4 Inches Long, 2.7 Inches Wide, 1.2 Inches Thick (Matrix)

The item pictured is the one you will receive.

Upper Ordovician, 452 Million Years old. 

Fenestella is a genus of bryozoans, also known as moss animals, that form fan-shaped colonies with a netted appearance. These organisms are characterized by their skeletal structure, which consists of stiff branches interconnected by narrower crossbars called dissepiments. The name Fenestella comes from Latin, meaning "little window," referring to the window-like openings in the mesh of the colony's skeleton.

Fenestella existed from the Middle Ordovician to the early Upper Triassic (Carnian) periods, with its greatest diversity during the Carboniferous period. These bryozoans lived in marine environments, and fossils have been found in marine sediments worldwide

The colonies of Fenestella have a distinctive structure. The branches split or bifurcate, giving the colonies a fan-shaped appearance. The front of the branches may have small nodes in a row in the middle. The openings between the branches, called fenestules, are approximately rectangular, and between two and eight zooids (individual colony members) inhabit each fenestule. The apertures, or pores, where the zooids lived, are often closed by centrally perforated lids in well-preserved specimens. Compared to other fenestellids, Fenestella is relatively fine, with large apertures and wide dissepiments.