Tabulata Temporal range:Ordovician–Permian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Tabulate coral (a syringoporid); Boone Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) near Hiwasse, Arkansas. Scale bar is 2.0 cm.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Subphylum:	Anthozoa
Class:	†Tabulata
Orders
Auloporida † Favositida † Halysitida † Heliolitida † Lichenariida † Sarcinulida † Syringoporida † Tetradiida

Tabulata, commonly known astabulate corals, is aclass ofextinctcorals.^[1]They are almost alwayscolonial, forming colonies of individualhexagonal cells known ascorallites defined by askeleton ofcalcite, similar in appearance to ahoneycomb. Adjacent cells are joined by small pores. Their distinguishing feature is their well-developed horizontal internal partitions (tabulae) within each cell, but reduced or absent vertical internal partitions (septa). They are usually smaller thanrugose corals, but vary considerably in shape, from flat to conical to spherical.

Around 300 species have been described. Among the most common tabulate corals in thefossil record areAulopora,Favosites,Halysites,Heliolites,Pleurodictyum,Sarcinula andSyringopora. Tabulate corals with massive skeletons often contain endobiotic symbionts, such ascornulitids andChaetosalpinx.^[2][3]

Like rugose corals, they lived entirely during thePaleozoic, being found from theOrdovician to thePermian. WithStromatoporoidea and rugose corals, the tabulate corals are characteristic of the shallow waters of theSilurian andDevonian. Sea levels rose in the Devonian, and tabulate corals became much less common. They finally became extinct in thePermian–Triassic extinction event.

• 
  Halysites sp. from theSilurian of Ohio. View of colony surface.
• 
  Etched section of anOrdovician tabulate coral
• 
  Aulopora from the Silica Shale (MiddleDevonian) of northwestern Ohio. Image shows colony origin encrusting abrachiopod.
• 
  The coralProtaraea richmondensis on the brachiopodRafinesquina ponderosa;Whitewater Formation, Indiana, Upper Ordovician.
• 
  Tabulate coralCalapoecia huronensis Billings, 1865;Waynesville Formation, Upper Ordovician, Caesar Creek, Ohio.

• Invertebrate Fossils; Moore, Lalicker, & Fischer; McGraw-Hill 1952.
• Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology Part F, Coelenterata. Geological Society of America and Univ Kansas Press. R.C. Moore (ed).

• Tabulata
• Hexacorallia
• Prehistoric animal classes

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