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An unusual new asteriid (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from the Cretaceous of California
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2016
Abstract
Pegaster stichos n. gen. and sp., from the Cretaceous Chico Formation of Northern California, is the first-known fossil representative of the hitherto monogeneric Neomorphasterinae (Asteroidea: Asteriidae). Pegaster is morphologically similar to living Neomorphaster, again demonstrating the conservative evolution noted elsewhere among asteroids. Pegaster probably lived in a shallow shelf environment subject to strong storm action whereas Neomorphaster is known only from considerably greater depths; Pegaster provides a new example of an asteroid taxon excluded from shallower habitats through time.
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- Copyright © The Paleontological Society
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