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Article
Open AccessMesophotic vs. shallow water reefs: ecosystem connectivity in the Silurian of Gotland
The Lower Silurian Visby Beds (ca. 430 Ma) exposed on the island of Gotland (Sweden) yield the oldest so far described MCE’s (mesophotic coral ecosystems). Several basic questions concerning these ecosystems, ...
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Article
Open AccessDifferent times, similar mechanism? Convergent patterns in light-induced phenotypic plasticity in Devonian and modern corals
Modern scleractinian corals can display high phenotypic plasticity, which reflects an interplay among various environmental controls, such as sediment input, water hydrodynamics or light intensity. In particul...
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Article
Open AccessBryozoan–cnidarian mutualism triggered a new strategy for greater resource exploitation as early as the Late Silurian
Bryozoans were common benthic invertebrates in the Silurian seas. The large biodiversity among Silurian benthic organisms prompted diversified interactions, and as a result bryozoans hosted many other organism...
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Article
Open AccessAuthor Correction: Functional consequences of Palaeozoic reef collapse
An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
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Article
Open AccessFunctional consequences of Palaeozoic reef collapse
Biogenic reefs have been hotspots of biodiversity and evolutionary novelty throughout the Phanerozoic. The largest reef systems in Earth’s history occurred in the Devonian period, but collapsed during the Late...
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Article
Open AccessUnusual shallow water Devonian coral community from Queensland and its recent analogues from the inshore Great Barrier Reef
Palaeozoic coral communities were dominated by two extinct coral groups: Tabulata and Rugosa. Whilst they are not closely related to modern Scleractinia, they are morphologically convergent, displaying many mo...
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Article
Open AccessThe Silurian mesophotic coral ecosystems: 430 million years of photosymbiosis
The Silurian Period witnessed one of the most profound intervals of reef development in the history of the Earth, formed in large part by tabulate and rugose corals and stromatoporoid assemblages. One of the b...
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Article
Open AccessDeep in shadows, deep in time: the oldest mesophotic coral ecosystems from the Devonian of the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland)
Recent mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCE) occur at depths between 30 and 150 m and are characterized by dominance of platy corals. Such morphology is an effect of specific adaptation to efficient light harvesti...
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Article
Open AccessNew Famennian colonial coral (Rugosa) from the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland): an example of local evolution after Frasnian-Famennian extinction
Colonial rugose corals are extremely rare in the fossil record after the Late Devonian (Frasnian-Famennian) extinction event. Here, we report a new genus and species, Famastraea catenata, from the late Famennian ...
