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The complex morphology of a new Lower Silurian asteroid (Echinodermata)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Daniel B. Blake  and
Frank R. Ettensohn
Daniel B. Blake
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana 61801,
Frank R. Ettensohn
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506,
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Abstract

Gordonaster brassfieldensis is a new genus and species of Asteroidea (Echinodermata) described from the Lower Silurian Brassfield Formation of east-central Kentucky. Tentatively assigned to the poorly understood Palaeasteridae, Gordonaster shares much with Ordovician asteroids, yet it also exhibits apparent homoplasies that presage the post-Paleozoic crown group. Available specimens also indicate that the ontogenetic pattern of ossicular addition seen in the crown group was established during the Paleozoic.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 83 , Issue 1 , January 2009 , pp. 63 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society

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