sedimentary
Tabulate Coral Fossil (Favosites)
Favosites (Commonly known as Honeycomb Coral)
Hardness: 3-4 (calcite) or 6.5-7 (if silicified); Color: Tan, beige, grayish-brown; Luster: Dull to waxy; Structure: Closely packed polygonal (hexagonal) tubes called corallites; Cleavage: None.
- Hardness
- 3-4 (calcite) or 6
- Color
- Tan, beige, grayish-brown
- Luster
- Dull to waxy
Identified More sedimentary →
Identify your own rocks.
Get a report just like this from any photo, free.
Physical properties
Hardness: 3-4 (calcite) or 6.5-7 (if silicified); Color: Tan, beige, grayish-brown; Luster: Dull to waxy; Structure: Closely packed polygonal (hexagonal) tubes called corallites; Cleavage: None.
Formation & geological history
Formed through the fossilization of marine colonial coral organisms in warm, shallow seas. Most specimens range from the Ordovician to the Devonian periods (approx. 488 to 360 million years ago).
Uses & applications
Scientific study, educational specimens, lapidary use (if silicified/agatized), and decorative collecting.
Geological facts
Unlike modern corals, tabulate corals had no septa (the radiating vertical plates in the tubes). They went extinct at the end of the Permian period during the 'Great Dying' mass extinction.
Field identification & locations
Look for a honeycomb-like pattern on the surface or cross-section. Commonly found in limestone outcrops, riverbeds, and gravel pits across the Midwestern United States and Central Europe.
More like this
Other sedimentary specimens
Sandstone or Siltstone
Arenite (if sandstone)
Sedimentary
Chert Breccia
Brecciated Chert (Microcrystalline Silica)
sedimentary
Sandstone
Arenite (primarily SiO2)
sedimentary
Sandstone Grain
Clastic Sedimentary Rock Grain (SiO2 dominated)
sedimentary
Shale or Slaty Mudstone
Argillaceous sedimentary rock
sedimentary
Sandstone
Arenite
sedimentary