Coral reefs date back to the Mesozoic Era which was about 250 to 65 million years ago). they are one of the oldest and continuous environments on earth (new coral is constantly building on top of old, dead coral). Most of the living reefs we see today are more than 5,000 years old and some are as much as 25 million years old!!!
Where does the word "reef" come from?
The word "reef" comes from the German word "ref" which means any rock-like formation that was a hazard to navigation. Now, it only refers to the ocean structures created by organisms - corals are the most common type of reef builders and are thus, hermatypic.
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