Brachiopod description Rhynchonella is an extinct genus of brachiopod found in Ordovician to Eocene strata worldwide. Mar 23, 2000 ยท Brachio-Philes - Sean Robson's Brachiopod site - see his Brachiopod Systematics page. Brachiopods were the dominant form of life in the seas in most of the Paleozoic, including the Devonian. 4 Brachiopod Preservation Above image: Left, Brachiopod Paraspirifer brownockeri on exhibit in the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Houston, Texas. They range in size from 1/2″ wide to 2″ wide. But during the Paleozoic, thousands of different species of brachiopods teemed in the near-shore and deep-sea environments of Wisconsin. Both have bilateral symmetry, but the plane of symmetry in brachiopods is vertical rather than horizontal (Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\)). Brachiopods, trilobites, bryozoans, rugose corals, and echinoderms (including crinoids, asteroids, and edrioasteroids) are all present in the Kope. The living representatives of Lingulida belong to two families, 6 genera and 25 species, while those of Craniida belong to one family, 3 genera and 18 species. The largest brachiopods known—Gigantoproductus and Titanaria, reaching 30 to 38 centimetres (12 to 15 in) in width—occurred in the upper part of the Lower Carboniferous. ljtvsrgyiuzhqevfcocrhsuzlnzvwffqjysxylsmhrviqtrprttouswdldmqmaiahatoivltuaery