A goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata, Asteroidea) preserved in a mid-Miocene rhyolitic ignimbrite, northwest Romania
Jagt, J.W.M.; Codrea, V. (2010). A goniasterid starfish (Echinodermata, Asteroidea) preserved in a mid-Miocene rhyolitic ignimbrite, northwest Romania. Acta Geol. Pol. 60(2): 275-282
In: Acta Geologica Polonica. Muzeum Ziemi: Warszawa. ISSN 0001-5709; e-ISSN 2300-1887, more
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| Keywords |
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Tertiary > Cenozoic > Neogene > Miocene
Asteroidea [WoRMS]; Echinodermata [WoRMS]
Romania [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Miocene; Romania; Echinoderms; Asteroids; Comparisons; Volcanic strata;Preservation |
| Abstract |
A well-preserved, near-complete goniasterid asteroid, provisionally referred to the genus Ceramaster, is recorded from a rhyolitic ignimbrite assigned to the Dej Tuff Formation, exposed near Ciceu Giurgesti (northwest Romania). The main interest of this specimen lies in the fact that it constitutes a rare example of preservation of (shallow-) marine biota, and echinoderms in particular, in volcanic strata. Superficially, overall disc shape and size, as well as ornament of marginal and abactinal ossicles, resemble to some extent that of coeval and slightly younger material from the Paratethys (south-central Poland, Austria) and the North Sea Basin (northwest Belgium), previously assigned to Ceramaster. So far, only the Polish and Austrian material has been formally named; however, this might actually represent but a single species. The record from Belgium refers to a form which is either conspecific with C. muelleri from the Paratethys, or represents a closely related taxon. These, and associated asteroids (e.g., Astropectinidae, Luidiidae), are in need of a modern taxonomic revision and a reappraisal of their palaeoecology is called for as well. |
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