sedimentary
Honeycomb Coral Fossil
Favosites (extinct genus of tabulate coral)
Hardness: 3-4 (Mohs scale), Color: Creamy white to light brown, Luster: Dull/Earthy, Crystal Structure: Hexagonal or polygonal corallites (tubes), Composition: Calcium Carbonate (Calcite/Aragonite).
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Physical properties
Hardness: 3-4 (Mohs scale), Color: Creamy white to light brown, Luster: Dull/Earthy, Crystal Structure: Hexagonal or polygonal corallites (tubes), Composition: Calcium Carbonate (Calcite/Aragonite).
Formation & geological history
Formed through the fossilization of marine coral colonies. These organisms builders reefs in shallow, warm sunlit seas primarily during the Ordovician to Devonian periods (approx. 450 to 360 million years ago).
Uses & applications
Used primarily as decorative collector specimens, educational fossils in paleontology, and occasionally sliced and polished for unique jewelry or lapidary art.
Geological facts
Members of the genus Favosites are nicknamed 'Honeycomb Corals' because the closely packed polygonal corallites look like bee honeycombs. They are index fossils used by geologists to date rock layers.
Field identification & locations
Identify by looking for a 'honeycomb' pattern of small holes (corallites) with radiating internal walls (septa). Commonly found in limey shale and limestone deposits, particularly in the Great Lakes region of the US and parts of Europe.
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