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Carabocrinid crinoids from the Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 July 2015
Abstract
Four species of carabocrinids from the Ordovician of northern Iowa and southern Minnesota are described, namely Carabocrinus radiatus E. Billings, C. vancortlandti E. Billings, C. magnificus Sardeson from the Middle Ordovician Dunleith Formation and C. slocomi Foerste from the Upper Ordovician Maquoketa Formation. Carabocrinus radiatus and C. vancortlandti are also known from the Middle Ordovician of Ontario and Quebec. In addition, C. magnificus and C. vancortlandti are recorded from the Decorah of the Twin Cities area and the Curdsville Limestone of Kentucky, respectively. Biogeographically, the Middle Ordovician carabocrinids from Iowa and Minnesota are most similar to those from rocks of similar age in the northern Appalachians.
Development of the cup and its component plates in C. slocomi is almost entirely isometric so that the its shape is largely constant regardless of size. This species exhibits ridge canals on the shoulders of the radial plates in the cup. The ridge canals probably served for respiration. As expected, the number of ridge canals and their length increase with positive allometry compared to the size and volume of the cup. Growth of the ridge canals restricts the width of the radial facets.
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