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Brachiopods. comparative_internal_mold_visual
OBJECT DOSSIER · SMITHSONIAN OPEN ACCESS

Brachiopods — Pentamerus oblongus

SAGE Museum Deep Time scientific dossier
Artist / Creator
James St. John
Date / Period
Silurian · Silurian; exact numeric age of the Smithsonian display specimens is not established in the current source set.
Object Type
internal molds
Medium
original_fossil
About This Object

Geologic period: Silurian

Age: Silurian; exact numeric age of the Smithsonian display specimens is not established in the current source set.

Feeding: Marine suspension feeder.

Body plan: Two-valved marine brachiopod shell.

Evidence: The Smithsonian identifies the display fossils as internal molds of Pentamerus oblongus.

Why it matters: An internal mold demonstrates that a fossil can preserve the shape of an organism even when the original hard material is gone.

Plain Language Identity: Silurian brachiopods identified as Pentamerus oblongus.

What You Are Looking At: Internal molds formed after sediment filled the shell and the original shell material was later lost.

Preservation: Internal mold.

Open Questions: The mold must not be described as original shell material.

Source Urls: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour/current-exhibits/deep-time-virtual-tour-fossil-list

Enrichment Method: SAGE curated research pass; evidence separated from inference

Scientific name: Pentamerus oblongus

Evidence / representation: comparative_internal_mold_visual

Why It Is In This SAGE Exhibit

comparative_internal_mold_visual

Reading Deep Time: How Rocks, Fossils and Time Become Evidence.

Provenance
Smithsonian Deep Time source scene: Fossil Basecamp Education Center 2
Visual source institution: Wikimedia Commons
Exhibition History
Included in the SAGE Museum Dinosaurs & Deep Time staging exhibit.
Collection & Credit

Media license: CC BY 2.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Subjects & Themes
Pentamerus oblongus Silurian internal molds Fossil Basecamp Education Center 2 Reading Deep Time
ORIGINAL COLLECTION SOURCE

This object page stays inside SAGE Museum. The Smithsonian link below is provided only as the original scholarly collection record. It opens separately.

VIEW ORIGINAL SMITHSONIAN RECORD ↗