Coral - Ketophyllum

myminifactory

Solitary coral Ketophyllum sp. discovered on Wenlock Edge, a rare find indeed. Tabulata, commonly referred to as tabulate corals, represent an order of extinct forms of coral that are mostly colonial in nature, forming colonies composed of individual hexagonal cells known as corallites defined by a skeleton made of calcite, resembling a honeycomb structure. Adjacent cells are joined together through small pores. Their distinctive feature is the well-developed horizontal internal partitions (tabulae) within each cell, but with reduced or absent vertical internal partitions (septa). These corals are generally smaller than rugose corals, yet vary significantly in shape, ranging from flat to conical to spherical forms. Approximately 300 species have been described and documented. Among the most common tabulate corals in the fossil record are Aulopora, Favosites, Halysites, Heliolites, Pleurodictyum, Sarcinula, and Syringopora. Tabulate corals with massive skeletons often harbor endobiotic symbionts such as cornulitids and Chaetosalpinx. This specimen was captured using a Canon 5DS R camera and Stackshot 3x with turntable to generate 150 images which were then processed using Agisoft Photoscan at high levels of precision.