New echinoderm holdfast discoveries from Gondwana demonstrate that pelmatozoans have been cementers able to attach to carbonate firmgrounds since the basal middle Cambrian. Echinoderms were thus colonizing shallow, high-energy environments well before the appearance of the first true carbonate hardgrounds in the Furongian. Morphological innovations and adaptations to firmground media ( = substrates) were first developed in softground, clayey, offshore environments where echinoderms cemented to shell fragments. This preadaption allowed echinoderms to quickly and effectively exploit the newly emerging hardground habitats in the Furongian to Early Ordovician.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 December 2010
PELMATOZOAN ECHINODERMS AS COLONIZERS OF CARBONATE FIRMGROUNDS IN MID-CAMBRIAN HIGH ENERGY ENVIRONMENTS
SAMUEL ZAMORA,
SÉBASTIEN CLAUSEN,
J. JAVIER ÁLVARO,
ANDREW B. SMITH
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
![](/ContentImages/journals/palo/25/12/12/WebImages/08831351-25.12.cover.jpg)
PALAIOS
Vol. 25 • No. 12
December 2010
Vol. 25 • No. 12
December 2010