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Isograptus victoriae
Order: Graptolite
Genus: Isograptus Species: Isograptus victoriae Location found: Aorangi Mine, Nelson Region |
Isograptus victoriae is one of several species of graptolites that are found in Ordovician rocks in New Zealand. This species was found near the Aorangi Mine, in the Golden Bay area of the Nelson Region.
Graptolites are simple, colonial animals that lived in the seas during middle to late Palaeolithic times. Their name comes from the Greek words for writing (graphos) and rock (lithos). They consisted of one or more pairs of feather-like arms, supported by a stalk, which was housed within a tubular structure called a theca. The arms are the most common features to be preserved, and the number and shape of these help in the identification. The specimen here shows the U-shaped, rather chunky arms of the species Isograptus victoriae preserved in a slab of dark grey sandstone. As other specimens in the collection show, different species often occurred in close proximity, and mixed assemblages together with Glyptograptus sp., Dichograptus sp. and Tetragraptus quadribranchiatus have been found in the same location. |
Mixed assemblage including Isograptus victoriae, Dichograptus sp. and Tetragraptus quadribranchiatus.
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