The beginning of a success story : basalmost members of the extant ophiuroid clade from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden
(2024) In European Journal of Taxonomy 947. p.216-247- Abstract
Due to the fragility of the ophiuroid (brittle star) skeleton, the bulk of the group’s fossil record consists of dissociated ossicles preserved as microfossils. In spite of their great potential as basis for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, however, ophiuroid ossicles from the Paleozoic have received very little attention so far. Here, we provide an exhaustive taxonomic assessment of such fossils retrieved from sieving residues from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden. This material was used in a previous study to describe two key taxa that allowed constraining the origin of the extant ophiuroid clade. The remaining taxa belonging to that same lineage are described in the present paper. The evidence at hand suggests that the stem of the... (More)
Due to the fragility of the ophiuroid (brittle star) skeleton, the bulk of the group’s fossil record consists of dissociated ossicles preserved as microfossils. In spite of their great potential as basis for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, however, ophiuroid ossicles from the Paleozoic have received very little attention so far. Here, we provide an exhaustive taxonomic assessment of such fossils retrieved from sieving residues from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden. This material was used in a previous study to describe two key taxa that allowed constraining the origin of the extant ophiuroid clade. The remaining taxa belonging to that same lineage are described in the present paper. The evidence at hand suggests that the stem of the extant ophiuroid clade was formed by two genera, Ophiopetagno and Ophiolofsson gen. nov., including six and five species, respectively, and spanning at least the upper Llandovery through upper Ludlow. We conclude that Ophiopetagno and Ophiolofsson represent sister genera that coexisted through most of the Silurian in the shallow tropical seas of Gotland. They underwent repeated body size reductions in correlation with environmental perturbations, with Ophiopetagno paicei eventually giving rise to Muldaster haakei; the first member of the living Ophiuroidea. Herein, we also introduce two new clades, Ankhurida clade nov. and Ophiovalida clade nov., and the following eight new species: Ophiolofsson joelmciveri gen. et sp. nov., O. obituary gen. et sp. nov., O. immolation gen. et sp. nov., O. archspire gen. et sp. nov., O. hendersonorum gen. et sp. nov., Ophiopetagno bonzo sp. nov., O. kansas sp. nov., O. doro sp. nov.; and two probably new species in open nomenclature: Ophiopetagno sp. 1, and Ophiopetagno sp. 2.
(Less)
- author
- Thuy, Ben ; Eriksson, Mats E. LU ; Kutscher, Manfred and Numberger-Thuy, Lea D.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Ankhurida, Gotland, new species, Ophiovalida, Phylogeny
- in
- European Journal of Taxonomy
- volume
- 947
- pages
- 32 pages
- publisher
- Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85202861078
- ISSN
- 2118-9773
- DOI
- 10.5852/ejt.2024.947.2631
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2108f876-acca-4c18-9b99-c550f050366d
- date added to LUP
- 2024-11-26 15:24:39
- date last changed
- 2025-04-04 14:45:46
@article{2108f876-acca-4c18-9b99-c550f050366d,
abstract = {{<p>Due to the fragility of the ophiuroid (brittle star) skeleton, the bulk of the group’s fossil record consists of dissociated ossicles preserved as microfossils. In spite of their great potential as basis for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies, however, ophiuroid ossicles from the Paleozoic have received very little attention so far. Here, we provide an exhaustive taxonomic assessment of such fossils retrieved from sieving residues from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden. This material was used in a previous study to describe two key taxa that allowed constraining the origin of the extant ophiuroid clade. The remaining taxa belonging to that same lineage are described in the present paper. The evidence at hand suggests that the stem of the extant ophiuroid clade was formed by two genera, Ophiopetagno and Ophiolofsson gen. nov., including six and five species, respectively, and spanning at least the upper Llandovery through upper Ludlow. We conclude that Ophiopetagno and Ophiolofsson represent sister genera that coexisted through most of the Silurian in the shallow tropical seas of Gotland. They underwent repeated body size reductions in correlation with environmental perturbations, with Ophiopetagno paicei eventually giving rise to Muldaster haakei; the first member of the living Ophiuroidea. Herein, we also introduce two new clades, Ankhurida clade nov. and Ophiovalida clade nov., and the following eight new species: Ophiolofsson joelmciveri gen. et sp. nov., O. obituary gen. et sp. nov., O. immolation gen. et sp. nov., O. archspire gen. et sp. nov., O. hendersonorum gen. et sp. nov., Ophiopetagno bonzo sp. nov., O. kansas sp. nov., O. doro sp. nov.; and two probably new species in open nomenclature: Ophiopetagno sp. 1, and Ophiopetagno sp. 2.</p>}},
author = {{Thuy, Ben and Eriksson, Mats E. and Kutscher, Manfred and Numberger-Thuy, Lea D.}},
issn = {{2118-9773}},
keywords = {{Ankhurida; Gotland; new species; Ophiovalida; Phylogeny}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{216--247}},
publisher = {{Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle}},
series = {{European Journal of Taxonomy}},
title = {{The beginning of a success story : basalmost members of the extant ophiuroid clade from the Silurian of Gotland, Sweden}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2024.947.2631}},
doi = {{10.5852/ejt.2024.947.2631}},
volume = {{947}},
year = {{2024}},
}