How to translate text using browser tools
1 November 2016 An asteroid (Echinodermata) faunule from the Oxfordian Swift Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Montana
Daniel B. Blake, Thomas E. Guensburg
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

A new Late Jurassic (Oxfordian) asteroid (Echinodermata) faunule from the Swift Formation of Montana includes representatives of four genera including the new genus and species Atalopegaster gundersoni (Stichasteridae), Eokainaster sp. indet. (Astropectinidae), an indeterminate probable member of the Goniasteridae, and a species indeterminate beyond the class level. Because of weathering at the outcrop, preservation is poor.

Although representing an unusual depositional occurrence, overall faunule composition appears comparable to that found in a similar modern environment. The faunule is comparable in age and regional location to earlier Jurassic asteroid discoveries, suggesting wide distribution during a geologically brief time interval of favorable conditions. Asteroids are only rarely reported from the Mesozoic of the North American continental interior, and co-occurrence of multiple fossil taxa is unusual on a global basis.

© 2016, The Paleontological Society
Daniel B. Blake and Thomas E. Guensburg "An asteroid (Echinodermata) faunule from the Oxfordian Swift Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Montana," Journal of Paleontology 90(6), 1160-1168, (1 November 2016). https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2016.70
Accepted: 1 March 2016; Published: 1 November 2016
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top