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The taxonomy of commonly fossilized invertebrates combines both traditional and modern paleozoological terminology. This article compiles various invertebrate taxa in the fossil record, ranging from protists to arthropods. This includes groups that are significant in paleontological contexts, abundant in the fossil record, or have a high proportion of extinct species. Special notations are explained below:
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The paleobiologic systematics that follow are not intended to be comprehensive, rather, they are designed to encompass invertebrates that (a) are popularly collected as fossils and (b) extinct. As a result, some groups of invertebrates are not listed.[1]
If an invertebrate animal is mentioned below using its common (vernacular) name, it is an extant (living) taxon, but if it is cited by its scientific genus, then it is typically an extinct invertebrate known only from the fossil record.[2]
Invertebrate clades that are important fossils (e.g. ostracods, frequently used as index fossils), and clades that are very abundant as fossils (e.g. crinoids, easily found in crinoidal limestone),[3] are highlighted with a bracketed exclamation mark [ ! ].
Eukaryotes are cellular organisms bearing a central, organized nucleus with DNA.
Opisthokonts; the animal-related kingdoms. These include proto-spongal choanoflagellates; proto-fungal microsporidians; and true fungi; true animals.
Metazoans are multicellular "true" animals (multicellular creatures that capture and ingest their organic food).
Parazoans are typically sessile, basal non-eumetazoans. They are the most primitive animals, comprising simple, colonial, attached, bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates.
Cone-shaped archaeocyathids/archeocyathids; cup-shaped archaeocyathans/archeocyathans; reef-building pleosponges; calcareous "ancient-cups".
Includes fossil genera such as Archaeocyathus, Cambrocyathus, Atikonia, Tumuliolynthus, Kotuyicyathus, Metaldetes, Ajacicyathus and Paranacyathus.
Archaeocyatha is sometimes classified as a class of Porifera below.
Quintessential true sponges; marine, colonial, pore-bearing animals; organized collar-flagellates; poriferans - today mostly siliceous – half of all documented species of Porifera are fossils and extinct.[4]
Porifera may eventually be broken up into separate phyla:
Eumetazoans; true metazoans (typically mobile, multicellular animals).
Eumetazoa contains most of the living and deceased species of recorded life, including most invertebrates (extinct and extant), as well as all vertebrate animals.
Radiates; non-bilaterian eumetazoans.
Lophotrochozoan bilaterians, such as flatworms, ribbon worms, lophophorates, and molluscs.
Bryozoans – half of all documented species of Bryozoa are fossils and extinct.[5]
Lampshells, brachiopods or "brachs," (not to be confused with the hard-shelled marine mollusks below) – 99% of all documented species of Brachiopoda are now extinct.
Segmented worms such as earthworms and leeches.
Molluscs or mollusks, not to be confused with the hard-shelled marine brachiopods above.
Ecdysozoans, such as nematodes, horsehair worms, and molting bilaterians/panarthropods
Panarthropodic water bears.
Panarthropodic velvet worms,
Arthropods; jointed legged creatures with an exoskeleton.
Second-mouthed bilaterians called deuterostomians, such as chordates and echinoderms.
Echinoderms – 72% of all documented species of Echinodermata are fossils and extinct.[7]
Hemichordates such as extant acorn worms – Less than half of the documented species of Hemichordata are fossils and extinct.
Both invertebrate and vertebrate chordates; are animals possessing a notochord.
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