DIDYMOGRAPTUS

genus of graptolites (an extinct group of colonial animals related to primitive chordates) found as fossils in Early and Middle Ordovician marine rocks (the Ordovician Period occurred from 505 to 478 million years ago). The several described species of Didymograptus, with their wide geographic distribution and relatively narrow time ranges, are guide fossils for correlation of Early and Middle Ordovician rocks and time. The genus is characterized by its two-branched form, frequently suspended from a circular disk-shaped structure. Didymograptus includes some of the largest known graptolites.