WSeveral stratigraphic units in Colombia have provided fossils. The richest formations are the Devonian Cuche and Floresta Formations, the Cretaceous Paja Formation, the Paleocene Cerrejón Formation and the Miocene La Venta site. The latter is the richest Konzentrat-Lagerstätte in northern South America and comprises the formations of the Honda Group.
WAntarctilamna is an extinct genus of Devonian shark originally exemplified by Antarctilamna prisca from South Eastern Australia and Antarctica. The latest occurring described species is Antarctilamna ultima from the Waterloo Farm lagerstätte in South Africa. Antarctilamna has robust ctenacanthid-like spines which lack a deep insertion area, and are borne in front of the first dorsal fin; in addition to distinctive diplodont teeth with small intermediate cusps. Antarctilamna-like spines, known from the Bunga Beds locality in Australia have been ascribed to A. Prisca.
WAsterolepis is an extinct genus of antiarch placoderms from the Devonian of North and South America and Europe. They were heavily armored flat-headed benthic detritivores with distinctive jointed limb-like pectoral fins and hollow spine. The armor plate gives the Asterolepis a box-like shape. Its pectoral fins are also armored but the caudal and dorsal fin are not. The first fossils were named by M. Eichwald in 1840 after noticing star-like markings on the fossils.
WAtrypa is a genus of brachiopod with shells round to short egg-shaped, covered with many fine radial ridges, that split further out and growthlines perpendicular to the costae and 2-3 times wider spaced. The pedunculate valve is a little convex, but tends to level out or even become slightly concave toward the anterior margin. The brachial valve is highly convex. There is no interarea in either valve. Atrypa was a cosmopolitan and occurred from the late Lower Silurian (Telychian) to the early Upper Devonian (Frasnian). Other sources expand the range from the Late Ordovician to Carboniferous, approximately from 449 to 336 Ma. A proposed new species, A. harrisi, was found in the trilobite-rich Floresta Formation in Boyacá, Colombia.
WAviculopecten is an extinct genus of bivalve mollusc that lived from the Early Devonian to the Late Triassic in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.
WBothriolepis was a widespread, abundant and diverse genus of antiarch placoderms that lived during the Middle to Late Devonian period of the Paleozoic Era. Historically, Bothriolepis resided in an array of paleo-environments spread across every paleocontinent, including near shore marine and freshwater settings. Most species of Bothriolepis were characterized as relatively small, benthic, freshwater detritivores, averaging around 30 centimetres (12 in) in length. However, the largest species, B. rex, had an estimated bodylength of 170 centimetres (67 in). Although expansive with over 60 species found worldwide, comparatively Bothriolepis is not unusually more diverse than most modern bottom dwelling species around today.
WChonetes is an extinct genus of brachiopods. It ranged from the Late Ordovician to the Middle Jurassic.
WComposita is an extinct brachiopod genus that lived from the Late Devonian to the Late Permian. Composita had a cosmopolitan global distribution, having lived on every continent except Antarctica. Composita had a smooth shell with a more or less distinct fold and sulcus and a round opening for the pedicle on the pedicle valve. Composita is included in the family Athyrididae and placed in the subfamily Spirigerellinae.
WThe Cuche Formation is a geological formation of the Floresta Massif, Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of siltstones, shales, and sandstone beds dates to the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous periods, and has a maximum thickness of 900 metres (3,000 ft).
WCyphaspis is a genus of small trilobite that lived from the Late Ordovician to the Late Devonian. Fossils have been found in marine strata in what is now Europe, Africa and North America. Various species had a compact body, and a large, bulbous glabellum. Many species had long spines arranged similarly to closely related genera, such as Otarian, Otarionella, Chamaeleoaspis, and Namuropyge.
WDalmanites is a genus of trilobite in the order Phacopida. They lived from the Late Ordovician to Middle Devonian.
WDipleura is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida. It was described by Green in 1832, and the type species is Dipleura dekayi. The type locality was in the Hamilton Group in New York.
WFavosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites. The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites, like many corals, thrived in warm sunlit seas, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles and often forming part of reef complexes. The genus had a worldwide distribution from the Late Ordovician to Late Permian.
WThe Floresta Formation is a geological formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The sequence of siltstones, shales, coquinas and sandstone beds dates to the Devonian period; Late Emsian, Eifelian and Early Givetian epochs, and has a maximum thickness of 600 metres (2,000 ft). The unit is highly fossiliferous; brachiopods, bryozoans, gastropods, trilobites, corals and bivalves have been found in the Floresta Formation. Some fragments of Placoderm fish fossils were found in the Floresta Formation, while the overlying Cuche Formation is much richer in fish biodiversity.
WGreenops is a mid-sized Devonian trilobite of the order Phacopida, subfamily Asteropyginae. They are mainly reported from the mid-Devonian Hamilton Group of upstate New York and southwestern Ontario. A similar-looking trilobite from Morocco is often mis-labelled Greenops. Greenops had schizocroidal eyes, large genal spines and short, sharp spines at the tip of each segment of the pygidium ("tail"). Greenops lived in warm, fairly deep water. In the Hamilton Group of New York, they are found with Phacops, Dipleura and Bellacartwrightia, a trilobite that resembles Greenops but has much larger pygidial spines. In Ontario, they are found in the Widder Formation, which outcrops at Arkona, where they are, by far, the dominant trilobite.
WHeliophyllum is an extinct genus of corals that existed predominantly in the Devonian. Heliophyllum is of the order Rugosa and can be referred to as horn corals. The genus had a wide distribution. Fossils of H. halli have been found in the fossil rich Floresta Formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia. This genus used its nematocysts to stun prey.
WHoloptychius is an extinct genus of porolepiform lobe-finned fish from the Middle Devonian to Carboniferous (Mississippian) periods. It is known from fossils worldwide. The genus was first described by Louis Agassiz in 1839.
WHomalonotus is an extinct genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida. It contains several species, including H. armatus and H. roemeri. It is closely related to other trilobites such as Arduennella and Dipleura..
WMeristella is an extinct genus of brachiopods found from the Late Silurian to the Late Devonian. They are characterized by a smooth oval shell and a prominent incurved beak on the pedicle valve. Meristella is placed in the family Meristellidae of the articulate brachiopod order Athyridida.
WOdontopleura is a genus of spinose odontopleurid trilobite in the family Odontopleuridae, and is the type genus of that family and of Odontopleurida. The various species are found in Upper Ordovician to Middle Devonian marine strata throughout the world. The best studied fossils are of the type species, O. ovata, from the Wenlock-aged Liteň Formation in Loděnice, in Bohemia, Czech Republic, and, southeastern Gotland, of Sweden.
WPhacops is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae, that lived in Europe, northwestern Africa, North and South America and China from the Late Ordovician until the very end of the Devonian, with a broader time range described from the Late Ordovician. It was a rounded animal, with a globose head and large eyes, and probably fed on detritus. Phacops is often found rolled up ("volvation"), a biological defense mechanism that is widespread among smaller trilobites but further perfected in this genus.
WPlatyceras is a genus of extinct Paleozoic sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Platyceratidae. This genus is known from the Silurian to the Middle Triassic periods and especially abundant in the Devonian and Carboniferous. It is the type genus of the family Platyceratidae.
WPleurodictyum is an extinct genus of tabulate corals, characterized by polygonal corallites. Colonies commonly encrust hard substrates such as rocks, shells and carbonate hardgrounds.
WThe Río Cachirí Group is a geological group of the Cesar-Ranchería Basin, Colombia and the Serranía del Perijá of the northernmost Colombian and Venezuelan Andes. The group of shales, sandstones and limestones is of Devonian age and has a maximum thickness in the Venezuelan section of 2,438 metres (7,999 ft). The group contains abundant fauna; crinoids, bryozoa, brachiopods and molluscs have been found in the group.
WSpirifer is a genus of marine brachiopods belonging to the order Spiriferida and family Spiriferidae. Species belonging to the genus lived from the Middle Ordovician (Sandbian) through to the Middle Triassic (Carnian) with a global distribution. They were stationary epifaunal suspension feeders.
WViaphacops is a genus of trilobites in the order Phacopida, family Phacopidae, that lived during the Middle Devonian, and is known from North and South America, Asia.