Answer to Question #211969 in Civil and Environmental Engineering for Nickname

Question

On a field trip with your colleagues you came across a shale with markings on it. You concluded that it is a graptolite genus Diplograptus. However,your colleague says it’s a Didymograptus. What are the characteristics of these graptolites that you could use to justify your conclusions? 

Answer 1

Diplograptus is characterized by a caplike float from which featherlike assemblages of graptolite organisms were suspended. It was relatively large for a graptolite; several kinds of individuals were present in a colony while the genus Didymograptus is characterized by its two-branched form, frequently suspended from a circular disk-shaped structure.