Definition: Capable of creating a new organism by combining the genetic material of two gametes, which may come from two parent organisms or from a single organism, in the case of self-fertilizing hermaphrodites.
Definition: Hard framework, internal or external, which supports and protects softer parts of plant, animal or unicellular organism, and to which muscles usually attach in animals, includes skeletons (derived from Lawrence, 2005).
Definition: The marine benthic biome (benthic meaning 'bottom') encompasses the seafloor and includes such areas as shores, littoral or intertidal areas, marine coral reefs, and the deep seabed.
Definition: The number of fossil occurrences in the Paleobiology Database (https://paleobiodb.org) that are identified as belonging to a particular taxon or any of its subtaxa.
Definition: Repeated, thickened, raised structures on the shell or carapace surface, comparable to or greater than the thickness of the shell/carapace and covering a notable portion of it. Thickenings can be either radial, comarginal, axial or spiral.
Definition: A structural quality inhering in a bearer by virtue of the bearer's being thicker or more closely packed together; pressed tightly together.
Definition: A group of species that exploit the same food resources, and/or use the same feeding or foraging methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_(ecology)
