Trepostomatida

{{Short description|Extinct order of moss animals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Early Ordovician|Triassic}}

| image = Esthoniopora Kukruse.jpg

| image_caption = Esthoniopora, a trepostome from the Ordovician of Estonia (cross-section).

| taxon = Trepostomatida

| authority = Ulrich 1882[https://archive.org/details/redescriptionstig00frit Redescription of type specimens of bryozoan Stigmatella from the Upper Ordovician of the Toronto region, Ontario (1973)]. By Fritz, Madeleine A., 1896, Royal Ontario Museum

| subdivision_ranks = Families

| subdivision = Heterotrypidae

MonticuliporidaeNew Monticuliporidae (Bryozoa, Trepostomata) from the Cystoid Limestone Formation (Upper Ordovician) of the Iberian Chains (NE Spain). Jimenez-Sanchez Andrea, Geodiversitas, 2010, vol. 32, no2, pages 177-199, {{INIST|22896890}}

| synonyms = *Trepostomata

• Trepostomida

}}

File:Trepostome large Bellevue.jpg; Bellevue Formation, Upper Ordovician (Katian), northern Kentucky.]]

Trepostomatida (the trepostomates) is an extinct order of bryozoans in the class Stenolaemata. Trepostome bryozoans possessed mineralized calcitic skeletons and are frequently fossilized; some of the largest known fossilized bryozoan colonies are branching trepostomes and massive dome-shaped trepostomes. {{cite book |last1=Ernst |first1=Andrej |title=Phylum Bryozoa |date=2020 |pages=11–56 |chapter=2- Fossil record and evolution of Bryozoa}} Trepostomes did not have many specialized zooecia beyond ordinary feeding autozooecia. The two main known heteromorphs are exilazooecia and mesozooecia, which had the purpose of maintaining regular spacing between autozooecia. {{cite book |last1=Ernst |first1=Andrej |title=Phylum Bryozoa |date=2020 |page=19 |chapter=2- Fossil record and evolution of Bryozoa}}