| Palæos: |  |
Paleozoic Ecosystems |
| PALEOZOIC ERA | Nekton and Plankton |
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| Palæos: | |
Paleozoic Ecosystems |
| PALEOZOIC ERA | Nekton and Plankton |
| Page Back | Page Up | Unit Back | Unit Up | Geological Timescale | References | |
| Page Next | Page Down | Page/Unit Next | Unit Home | Paleozoic Timescale | Palaeontology | Books |
| Phanerozoic
Paleozoic Era Early Paleozoic Cambrian Ordovician Silurian Late Paleozoic Permian Devonian Carboniferous Permian |
Paleozoic Era
Paleozoic Benthic Marine Ecosystems Paleozoic Pelagic Marine Ecosystems Paleozoic Marginal Marine Ecosystems Paleozoic Freshwater Ecosystems Paleozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems Paleozoic Timescale Books References |
note: the following passage is from Patrick J. Benchley and by D. A. T. Harper, Palaeoecology, p.137 (Chapman and Hall)
Acritarchs, chitinozoans and radiolaria had a dominant place in the microplankton. Graptolites formed a large part of the macroscopic plankton and nekton during the early Paleozoic together with pelagic and planktonic trilobites; whereas orthoconic nautiloids together with conodont animals were probably major predators above the sediment-water interface to be joined by both jawless and gnathostome fishes. A few species of small, thin-shelled bivalves and brachiopods may have pursued epiplanktonic strategies attached to floating organic material or even volcanic pumice.
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