TABULATA (Ordivician through Permian)
The
tabulates (like the Rugosans) are also restricted to the Paleozoic.
The defining characteristics of the tabulates are their inconspicuous septa
and well developed horizontal platforms. They are very much unlike
the Rugosans and Scleractinians. The platform is recognized to be
very flat and continuous. The tabulates unlike the Rugosans and Scleractinians
are only found in colonial settings. The corallites of these large
platforms are long straight and slender tubes. in cross section they
may be elliptical, circular, or polygonal. It is not uncommon for
the wall of the corallite tubes to have pores. The septa are always
short (if they are present at all) and spine like. Tabulate corals
are 300 genera that have been described. They are found in most Middle
Paleozoic rocks and are abundant and conspicuous.
