[grap-tuh-lahyt] 
| any colonial animal of the extinct class Graptolithina, most common in the Ordovician and Silurian Periods, thought to be related to the pterobranchs. |
[grap-tuh-lit-ik] , adjective | grap·to·lite (grāp'tə-līt') n. Any of numerous extinct colonial marine animals chiefly of the orders Dendroidea and Graptoloidea of the late Cambrian to the early Mississippian periods, whose fossil remains are often used to date the rocks of the Silurian and Ordovician ages. [Greek graptos, written (from graphein, to write; see graphic) + -lite (from the resemblance of the fossils' impressions on shale to markings on a slate).] |
| graptolite (grāp'tə-līt') Pronunciation Key
Any of numerous hemichordates of the class Graptolithina. Graptolites form colonies consisting of interlocked cuplike chambers arranged in one or more branches and covered by an exoskeleton. They flourished from the late Cambrian to the early Mississippian Period, and were thought to be extinct until 1992 when scientists discovered what is believed to be a living species. Graptolites are important index fossils used to date the rocks of the Silurian and Ordovician Periods. |