Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Müller, Peter
• Hahn, Gerhard
• Franke, Christian
• Thuy, Ben

Titel

A new paedomorphic protasterid brittle star (Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea) from the Early Devonian of Luxembourg and Germany

Ist Teil von

• Swiss journal of palaeontology, 2018-12, Vol.137 (2), p.327-335

Ort / Verlag

Cham: Springer International Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Springer Nature - Complete Springer Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A new genus of ophiuroid, Luxaster n. gen., is described based on articulated skeletal remains preserved as external molds. The new genus belongs to the Paleozoic stem-group family Protasteridae. It includes two species, Luxaster martini n. sp. from the Lower Devonian of Luxemburg, and Luxaster schweitzeri from the Lower Devonian of W-Germany. Within the Protasteridae, Luxaster stands out in showing a combination of characters best interpreted as strongly paedomorphic within the morphological spectrum of the family. This suggests that paedomorphosis played a role in ophiuroid evolution not only in the living clades but also in the extinct stem groups.