// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Trepostomatida say? "I'm a bryozoan to be around.
| Trepostomatida Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Esthoniopora, a trepostome from the Ordovician of Estonia (cross-section). | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Bryozoa |
| Class: | Stenolaemata |
| Order: | †Trepostomatida Ulrich 1882[1] |
| Suborders[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |

Trepostomatida (the trepostomates or trepostomes) is an extinct order of bryozoans in the class Stenolaemata. Trepostome bryozoans possessed mineralized calcitic skeletons and are frequently fossilized; some of the largest known fossilized bryozoan colonies are branching trepostomes and massive dome-shaped trepostomes. [3] Trepostomes did not have many specialized zooecia beyond ordinary feeding autozooecia. The two main known heteromorphs are exilazooecia and mesozooecia, which have the purpose of maintaining regular spacing between autozooecia. [4]
References
[edit]- ↑ Redescription of type specimens of bryozoan Stigmatella from the Upper Ordovician of the Toronto region, Ontario (1973). By Fritz, Madeleine A., 1896, Royal Ontario Museum
- ↑ Bock P, ed. (2025). "Trepostomatida †". World list of Bryozoa. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
- ↑ Ernst, Andrej (2020). "2- Fossil record and evolution of Bryozoa". Phylum Bryozoa. pp. 11–56.
- ↑ Ernst, Andrej (2020). "2- Fossil record and evolution of Bryozoa". Phylum Bryozoa. p. 19.