Long before the dawn of humans, dinosaurs, insects or even trees, a cascade of unfortunate events threatened to end life on earth. During the Ordovician Period, around 485 to 444 million years ago, ...

The Ordovician, for example, eliminated 85 percent of all species, but only 60 percent of genera and 25 percent of families, ... Corals, bryozoans (another colonial creature), clam-like brachiopods, ...

It came during the Ordovician period, right after the Cambrian came to a close 485 million years ago. ... like brachiopods, crinoids, ostracodes, cephalopods, corals, and bryozoans.

A major group of brachiopods are the strophomenids, of which Rafinesquina was one. Characterized by wide flat shells that measure a couple of inches across (large for a brachiopod), millions of ...

Rich brachiopod fossils dating back 470 million years to the Ordovician period were discovered in Zigui county, Central China’s Hubei Province. Experts suggest these fossils provide evidence for ...

The great increase in biodiversity took place during the geological period known as the Ordovician. - This was a time in Earth history previously believed to be characterized by extreme CO2 levels ...