Fossil Corals and other Cnidarians
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Glasgow Museums has a collection of approximately 3,500 corals and other fossil cnidarians. Cnidarians are mainly marine animals that include corals, sea anemones, sea pens, jellyfish and hydroids. They have radially symmetrical body structures with a single body cavity opening, surrounded by tentacles. Stinging cells are found around their mouths and in their tentacles. This collection contains mostly corals, with rugose corals from the Carboniferous of Scotland forming the largest and most important group. Rugose corals were often solitary corals and were not attached to the sea floor, and are characterised by having a strong, roughly sculptured outer wall. Many Carboniferous rugose corals have a recognisable curved, cone-shape and are known as horn corals. Much of this material is from the collection of James Thomson, which was used extensively by Dorothy Hill in her monograph on the Scottish rugose corals.Two other groups of extinct Scottish Carboniferous corals, the tabulate corals and heterocorals, are also represented in the collection. Tabulate corals only lived in colonies and are characterised by slender corallites and dominant horizontal dividing plates called tabulae. Other geological periods, including the Silurian, Devonian and Jurassic Periods, are further represented by smaller collection groupings. The Silurian corals are mainly from England, although there are a few from Craighead Quarry, near Girvan in Scotland. In addition, there are about 30 conulariid fossils, usually thought to be an extinct group of cnidarians, from the Carboniferous and Silurian of Scotland. Conulariids have a characteristic angular cone or pyramid shaped structure.
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