Genus Archimedes

Physical Description:

Individual animals are called zooids. Fossils are ~2 cm long. In life, it had calcified tissue that held the edge of the lacy colony with the axis usually preserved alone. Archimedes is a genus of fenestrate bryozoans with a calcified skeleton of a delicate spiral-shaped mesh that was thickened near the axis into a massive corkscrew-shaped central structure. The most common remains are fragments of the mesh that are detached from the central structure, and these may not be identified other than by association with the "corkscrews", that are fairly common. Specimens in which the mesh remains attached to the central structure are rare.

Mode of Life or Habitat:

Benthic and sessile filter feeders. Lived in clear, shallow marine waters. They preferred clear water because murky water clogs the zooecia in which they live. Like other bryozoans, Archimedes forms colonies, and like other fenestrates, the individuals (or zooids) lived on one side of the mesh, and can be recognized for the two rows of equally distanced rimmed pores. Inside the branches, neighbouring individuals were in contact through small canals. Bryozoans are stationary epifaunal suspension feeders.

Extinct:

Yes

Start:

Carboniferous Mississippian Lower

End:

Permian Middle

Ma Start:

345

268

Etymology:

It was named for the Greek thinker Archimedes, who invented the water screw - Archimedes fossils look very much like screws.

Distribution:

Are mainly found throughout Europe and North America, but they have also been found in sediments of Afghanistan, Canada, Russia, and Australia. They lived in shallow marine waters.

External Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes_(bryozoan)

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Genus Archimedes†