Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T22:02:24.630Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Eocene stelleroids (Echinodermata) at Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Daniel B. Blake  and
Richard B. Aronson
Daniel B. Blake
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, 1301 W. Green St., University of Illinois, Urbana, 61801,
Richard B. Aronson
Affiliation:
Dauphin Island Sea Lab, P. O. Box 369, Dauphin Island, AL 36528,
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The new asteroid species Sclerasterias zinsmeisteri (Asteriidae), Paragonaster clarkae, Tesselaster clarki (both Goniasteridae), and the new ophiuroid species Ophiura hendleri (Ophiuridae) are described from the late Eocene La Meseta Formation at Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. The arm tip of an apparently new genus of the Oreasteridae is too incomplete to assign at the generic level. Other La Meseta asteroid species have been described elsewhere. Six of seven recognized stelleroid genera and all represented families survive, and differences between new species and existing congeneric species are subtle. Thus, the La Meseta fauna was similar to living faunas in basic composition.

Among La Meseta asteroids, Zoroaster aff. Z. fulgens and Ctenophoraster downeyae are known from numerous specimens; fossils of the other species are comparatively uncommon and given the uncertainties of sampling, further taxa might await discovery at Seymour Island. Although the Paxillosida is known from Jurassic rocks, fasciole-bearing, semi-infaunal genera are first known from Cretaceous deposits, and Astropecten and Astropecten-like Ctenophoraster are first recorded from Cenozoic rocks. Zoroaster and Tesselaster are only known from deep water settings today, although they are found in the La Meseta. Ophiura hendleri, the only ophiuroid recognized to date from the La Meseta, occurs singly, in small groups, and in Paleozoic-type ophiuroid-rich beds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , March 1998 , pp. 339 - 353
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aronson, R. B. 1987. Predation on fossil and Recent ophiuroids. Paleobiology, 13:187–192.Google Scholar
Aronson, R. B. 1991. Predation, physical disturbance, and sublethal arm damage in ophiuroids: a Jurassic-Recent comparison. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 74:91–97.Google Scholar
Aronson, R. B., Blake, D. B., and Oji, T. 1997. Retrograde community structure in the late Eocene of Antarctica. Geology, 25:903–906.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baumiller, T. K., and Gazdzicki, A. 1996. New crinoids from the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. In Gazdzicki, A. (ed.), Palaeontological Results of the Polish Antarctic Expeditions, Part II. Palaeontologica Polonica, 55:101–116.Google Scholar
de Blainville, H. M. 1830. Zoophytes. Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles. F. G. Levrault, Strasbourg, 60 p. (not seen).Google Scholar
Blake, D. B. 1984. The Benthopectinidae (Asteroidea: Echinodermata) of the Jurassic of Switzerland. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 77:631–647.Google Scholar
Blake, D. B. 1987. A classification and phylogeny of post-Palaeozoic sea stars (Asteroidea: Echinodermata). Journal of Natural History, 21:481–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, D. B. 1988. A first fossil member of the Ctenodiscidae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata). Journal of Paleontology, 62:626–631.Google Scholar
Blake, D. B. 1990. Hettangian Asteriidae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from southern Germany: taxanomy, phylogeny and life habits. Paläontologishe Zeitschrift, 64:103–123.Google Scholar
Blake, D. B., and Sprinkle, J. 1996. Astrocratis acutispina new genus and species, a new asteroid from the Upper Cretaceous of Texas. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 89:1311–1320.Google Scholar
Blake, D. B., and Sturgeon, K. 1995. Aldebarania arenitea, a new genus and species of Astropectinidae (Asteroidea; Echinodermata) from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) Peedee Formation of North Carolina. Journal of Paleontology, 69:376–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, D. B., and Zinsmeister, W. J. 1979. Two early Cenozoic sea stars (class Asteroidea) from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Journal of Paleontology, 53:1145–1154.Google Scholar
Blake, D. B., and Zinsmeister, W. J. 1988. Eocene asteroids (Echinodermata) from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, p. 489–498. In Feldmann, R. M. and Woodburne, M. O. (eds.), Geology and Paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir, 169, 566 p. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breton, G. 1995. Tethyaster guerangeri sp. nov. (Astropectinidae, Asteroidea, Echinodermata): deux spécimens d'astéŕides d'une conservation exceptionnelle du Cénomanien du Mans (Sarthe, France). Bulletin trimestriel de la Sociéte de géologique Normandie et Amis Muséum du Havre, 82:17–29.Google Scholar
Case, J. A. 1992. Evidence from fossil vertebrates for a rich Eocene Antarctic marine environment. Antarctic Research Series, 56:119–130.Google Scholar
Clark, A. M. 1962. Asteroidea. Reports of the British and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (B.A.N.Z.A.R.E.), B9, 104 p.Google Scholar
Clark, A. M. 1989. An index of names of Recent Asteroidea—Part 1: Paxillosida and Notomyotida, p. 225–348. In Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J. M. (eds.), Echinoderm Studies 3. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam.Google Scholar
Clark, A. M. 1993. An index of names of Recent Asteroidea—Part 2: Valvatida, p. 187–366. In Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J. M. (eds.), Echinoderm Studies. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam.Google Scholar
Clark, A. M., and Courtman Stock, J. 1976. The Echinoderms of Southern Africa. British Museum of Natural History Publication 776, 277 p.Google Scholar
Clark, A. M., and Downey, M. E. 1992. Starfishes of the Atlantic. Chapman and Hall, London; 794 p.Google Scholar
Clark, H. L. 1911. North Pacific ophiurans in the collection of the United States National Museum. U. S. National Museum Bulletin, 75, 302 p.Google Scholar
Clark, H. L. 1941. Reports on the Scientific Results of the Atlantis Expeditions to the West Indies, under the Joint Auspices of the University of Havana and Harvard University. The Echinoderms (Other than Holothurians). Memoiras de la Sociedad Cubana de Historia Natural Felipe Poey, 15(1), 154 p.Google Scholar
Clark, W. B. 1893. The Mesozoic Echinodermata of the United States. U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 97, 207 p.Google Scholar
Döderlein, L. 1917. Die Asteriden der Siboga Expedition. I. Die Gattung Astropecten . Siboga-Expeditie 46, 191 p. E. J. Brill, Leiden.Google Scholar
Downey, M. E. 1970. Zorocallida, new order, and Doraster constellatus, new genus and species, with notes on the Zoroasteridae (Echinodermata: Asteroidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, 64, 18 p.Google Scholar
Feldmann, R. M., and Woodburne, M. O. (eds.). 1988. Geology and Paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir, 169, 566 p.Google Scholar
Fisher, W. K. 1911. Asteroidea of the North Pacific and adjacent waters. 1. Phanerozonia and Spinulosa. U. S. National Museum Bulletin, 76, 420 p.Google Scholar
Fisher, W. K. 1919. Starfishes of the Philippine seas and adjacent waters. Bulletin of the U. S. National Museum, 100(3), 712 p.Google Scholar
Fisher, W. K. 1928. Asteroidea of the North Pacific and adjacent waters. 2. Forcipulata (Part). U. S. National Museum Bulletin, 76, 267 p.Google Scholar
Forbes, E. 1841. A History of British Starfish and Other Animals of the Class Echinodermata. John Van Voorst, London. 162 p. (not seen).Google Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1840. A synopsis of the genera and species of the class Hypostoma (Asterias Linnaeus). Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 6:175–184. (not seen).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heddle, D. 1967. Versatility of movement and the origins of asteroids, p. 125–142. In Millott, M. (ed.), Echinoderm Biology. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London, 20.Google Scholar
Hess, H. 1972. Eine Echinodermen-Fauna aus dem mittleren Dogger des Aargauer Juras. Schweizerische Paläontologische Abhandlungen, 92, 87 p.Google Scholar
Hess, H., and Blake, D. B. 1995. Coulonia platyspina n. sp., an asteroid from the Lower Cretaceous of Morocco. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae, 88:777–788.Google Scholar
Jablonski, D., and Bottjer, D. J. 1990. Onshore-offshore trends in marine invertebrate evolution, p. 21–75. In Ross, R. M. and Allmon, W. D. (eds.), Causes of Evolution, A Paleontological Perspective. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Jangoux, M. 1982. Food and feeding mechanisms: Asteroidea, p. 117–160. In Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J. M. (eds.), Echinoderm Nutrition. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam.Google Scholar
Jangoux, M. 1987. Diseases of Echinodermata. II. Agents metazoans (Mesozoa to Bryozoa). Diseases of Aquatic Organisms, 2:205–234.Google Scholar
Keller, G., McLeod, N., and Barrera, E. 1992. Eocene-Oligocene faunal turnover in planktic foraminifera, and glaciation, p. 217–244. In Prothero, D. R. and Berggren, W. A. (eds.), Eocene-Oligocene Climatic and Biotic Evolution. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Lamarck, J. B. P. 1801. Système des animaux sans vertèbres. 432 p. (not seen).Google Scholar
Lyman, T. 1865. Ophiuridae and Astrophytidae. Illustrated Catalogue of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 1, 200 p.Google Scholar
McKinney, M. L., McNamara, K. J., and Wiedman, L. A. 1988. Echinoids from the La Meseta Formation (Eocene), Seymour Island, Antarctica, p. 499–504. In Feldmann, R. M. and Woodburne, M. O. (eds.), Geology and Paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir, 169.Google Scholar
Meyer, D. L., and Oji, T. 1993. Eocene crinoids from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula: Paleobiogeographic and paleoecologic implications. Journal of Paleontology, 67:250–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortensen, Th. 1927. Echinoderms of the British Isles. Oxford University Press, 269 p.Google Scholar
Müller, J., and Troschel, F. H. 1840. Beobachtungen über die Asteriensammlung des Zoologischen Museum. Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1840, p. 100–106.Google Scholar
Paterson, G. L. J., Tyler, P. A., and Gage, J. D. 1982. The taxonomy and zoogeography of the genus Ophiocten (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea) in the North Atlantic Ocean. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology Series, 43:109–128.Google Scholar
Perrier, E. 1884. Mémoire sur les étoiles de mer recueillis dans la Mer des Antilles et la Golfe de Mexique. Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 6:127–276.Google Scholar
Perrier, E. 1894. Expéditions Scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman: Échinodermes. G. Masson, Paris, 431 p.Google Scholar
Radwanska, A. 1996. A new echinoid from the Eocene La Meseta Formation of Seymour Island Antarctic Peninsula. In Gazdzicki, A. (ed.), Palaeontological Results of the Polish Antarctic Expeditions, Part II. Palaeontologica Polonica, 55:117–125.Google Scholar
Sadler, P. M. 1988. Geometry and stratification of uppermost Cretaceous and Paleogene units on Seymour Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula, p. 303–320. In Feldmann, R. M. and Woodburne, M. O. (eds.), Geology and Paleontology of Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Geological Society of America Memoir, 169, 566 p. Google Scholar
Sladen, W. P. 1889. Report on the Asteroidea collected by the Challenger. Scientific Reports of the Results of the Voyage of the Challenger, Zoology, 30, 894 p.Google Scholar
Spencer, W. K., and Wright, C. W. 1966. Asterozoans, p. U4–U107. In Moore, R. C. (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part U, Echinodermata 3. Geological Society of America and University of Kansas Press, Lawrence.Google Scholar
Stilwell, J. D., and Zinsmeister, W. J. 1992. Molluscan Systematics and Biostratigraphy; Lower Tertiary La Meseta Formation, Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Antarctic Research Series; American Geophysical Union, Washington, D. C. 55, 192 p.Google Scholar
Thomson, C. W. 1873. The Depths of the Sea. MacMillan and Co., London. 527 p.Google Scholar
Vizcaino, S. F., Bond, M., Reguero, M. A., and Pascual, R. 1997. The youngest record of fossil land mammals from Antarctica; its significance on the evolution of the terrestrial environment of the Antarctic Peninsula during the late Eocene. Journal of Paleontology, 71:348–350.Google Scholar
Walenkamp, J. H. C. 1976. The asteroids of the coastal waters of Surinam. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 147, 92 p.Google Scholar
Walenkamp, J. H. C. 1979. Asteroidea (Echinodermata) from the Guyana Shelf. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 170, 98 p.Google Scholar
Warner, G. F. 1982. Food and feeding mechanisms: Ophiuroidea, p. 161–181. In Jangoux, M. and Lawrence, J. M. (eds.), Echinoderm Nutrition. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam.Google Scholar