unknown fossil

[haroun]

what type of corals please?

 

[Rockwood]

Hexagonaria I believe.

[haroun]

thank you.

is it extincted?

[Tidgy's Dad]

Yes, it is. 

Hello, Haroun and a very warm welcome to TFF from Morocco. 

It does look like some Palaeozoic corals, but the geology of the Erbil area seems much more recent; Miocene to Recent. 

Can you give a more precise location and some extra pictures, please? 

[haroun]

13 hours ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Yes, it is. 

Hello, Haroun and a very warm welcome to TFF from Morocco. 

It does look like some Palaeozoic corals, but the geology of the Erbil area seems much more recent; Miocene to Recent. 

Can you give a more precise location and some extra pictures, please? 

 

[Ludwigia]

@TqB ?

[TqB]

55 minutes ago, Ludwigia said:

@TqB ?

I wouldn't like to say without knowing what period, and with a clear section or two. 

[Rockwood]

There is some question as to how closely the older rugose corals are related to the younger scleractinians. Apparently this geometry is well suited to the life of a coral though. 

Convergent evolution.  

[TqB]

57 minutes ago, Rockwood said:

There is some question as to how closely the older rugose corals are related to the younger scleractinians. Apparently this geometry is well suited to the life of a coral though. 

Convergent evolution.  

It seems reasonable that scleractinians evolved from soft ancestors and that rugose corals left no descendants. I haven't checked out any really recent work though…
It's true they can all look much the same on the outside!