Craniops

Craniops; Temporal range: 488.3–354.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Brachiopoda
Class:	Craniata
Order:	†Craniopsida
Family:	†Craniopsidae
Genus:	†Craniops; Hall, 1859
Species
	†Craniops antiquus (Schlotheim, 1822); †Craniops brussai Benedetto, Lavié & Salas, 2024; †Craniops curvata (Bekker, 1921); †Craniops elegans (Bekker, 1921); †Craniops estona (Bekker, 1921); †Craniops implicatus (J. de C. Sowerby, 1839); †Craniops hamiltoniae Hall, 1867; †Craniops infrasilurica (Huene, 1899); †Craniops obtusa (Bekker, 1921); †Craniops pristina Popov & Cocks, 2014; †Craniops speculum Benedetto, Lavié & Salas, 2024; †Craniops subtruncata Hall, 1847; †Craniops tenuis Cooper, 1956;

Craniops is an extinct genus of brachiopods in the family Craniopsidae with species known from the Ordovician to the Devonian periods of the Palaeozoic era.

Distribution

C. curvata, C. elegans, C. estona and C. obtusa are from the Kukruse Stage (Ordovician) of Kohtla-Järve, in north-eastern Estonia.^[1]

C.brussai and C. speculum are from the Silurian Los Espejos Formation in the Precordillera Basin in Argentina.^[2]

C. tenuis is from the Pooleville Member of the Bromide Formation from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of Oklahoma.^[3]

Craniops underwent a lecithotrophic larval stage during its ontogeny.^[4]

↑ Bekker, 1921. The Kuckers Stage of the Ordovician Rocks in N-E Estonia.
↑ Benedetto, Juan L.; Lavié, Fernando J.; Salas, María J. (June 2024). "New Silurian craniopsids (Brachiopoda, Craniiformea) from the Precordillera basin of western Argentina and their associated faunas". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 138 104881. Bibcode:2024JSAES.13804881B. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2024.104881. Retrieved 15 September 2026 – via Elsevier Science Direct.
↑ Amsden, T.W. Catalogue of Fossils from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geological Survey, Circular 43. 1957
↑ Popov, Leonid E.; Bassett, Michael G.; Holmer, Lars E.; Skovsted, Christian B.; Zuykov, Michael A. (1 September 2010). "Earliest ontogeny of Early Palaeozoic Craniiformea: implications for brachiopod phylogeny". Lethaia. 43 (3): 323–333. Bibcode:2010Letha..43..323P. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.2009.00197.x. ISSN 0024-1164. Retrieved 15 September 2026 – via Scandinavian University Press.

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