Brachiopods
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
Part of Hall of Planet Earth.
Herbertella insculpta is a brachiopod from the Ordovician period (438 to 505 million years ago). Brachiopods, a dominant element of Ordovician animal life, lived in and on the sediment in large groups, and formed dense accumulations in the rock when they died. After they became extinct at the end of the Paleozoic era (245 million years ago), they were replaced by bivalves.
AMNH collection