Coral - Mississippian Period - Zaphrentis spinulosum.JPG

Fossil Coral - Zaphrentis spinulosum

Chesterian Zone of the Bangor Limestone Formation in northern Alabama
Mississippian Period (ca 325,000,000 years old)
Zaphrentis is a genus (sometimes made the type of the family Zaphrentidae) of solitary cup-shaped tetracorals that are common in Paleozoic formations and have numerous septa radiating from a deep pit in one side of the cup. Zaphrentis is one of the most widely used names in Paleozoic coral paleontology.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Anthozoa
Order: Rugosa
Family: Zaphrentidae
Genus: Zaphrentis
Species: spinulosa