Tentaculites

Tentaculites
Temporal range:
Tentaculitids from the Devonian of Maryland.
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Tentaculita
Order: Tentaculitida
Family: Tentaculitidae
Genus: Tentaculites
von Schlotheim, 1820
Species
  • T. bellulus Hall, 1876
  • T. exaltatus Talent, 1963
  • T. grandis Roemer, 1870
  • T. oswegoensis F.B. Meek & A.H. Worthen, 1865

Tentaculites is an extinct genus of conical fossils of uncertain affinity, class Tentaculita, although it is not the only member of the class. It is known from Lower Ordovician to Upper Devonian deposits both as calcitic shells with a brachiopod-like microstructure and carbonaceous 'linings'. The "tentaculites" (i.e. tentaculita) are also referred to as the styliolinids.