Living deep-water coral sequences generate a Paleozoic clock hypothesis that is deliberately kept separate from Triassic skeletons.
Represented range425–240 Ma
RegionsGlobal sampled deep- and shallow-water living corals
CladesScleractinia · Hexacorallia
Claim ledger
divergence-time · medium
A four-locus relaxed-clock analysis places deep-water scleractinian splits near 425 Ma, substantially before the approximately 240 Ma skeletal record, but this is a modelled divergence rather than a fossil occurrence.