Asterozoa

The Asterozoa are a subphylum in the phylum Echinodermata, within the Eleutherozoa. Characteristics include a star-shaped body and radially divergent axes of symmetry. The subphylum includes the classes Asteroidea, Ophiuroidea, Somasteroidea, and Stenuroidea. A fifth class, Concentricycloidea, was proposed for the unusual genus Xyloplax, but was later demoted to the status of infraclass as the sister of Neoasteroidea within the asteroidean subclass Ambuloasteroidea.

Asterozoa

NOAA Ocean Exploration · CC BY-SA 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
EleutherozoaPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB
Life habit
epifaunalPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB
Environment
marinePBDB, for Echinodermata

Time the record covers

At least 476 million years on record.

The record covers at least 477.1 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 488.9 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Cambrian — about 0 of 2571 occurrencesOrdovician — about 215 of 2571 occurrencesOrdovicianSilurian — about 82 of 2571 occurrencesDevonian — about 201 of 2571 occurrencesDevonianCarboniferous — about 118 of 2571 occurrencesCarboniferousPermian — about 36 of 2571 occurrencesPermianEarly Triassic — about 36 of 2571 occurrencesMiddle Triassic — about 78 of 2571 occurrencesLate Triassic — about 57 of 2571 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 138 of 2571 occurrencesMiddle Jurassic — about 172 of 2571 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 164 of 2571 occurrencesEarly Cretaceous — about 131 of 2571 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 883 of 2571 occurrencesPaleocene — about 48 of 2571 occurrencesEocene — about 111 of 2571 occurrencesOligocene — about 21 of 2571 occurrencesMiocene — about 52 of 2571 occurrencesPliocene — about 14 of 2571 occurrencesPleistocene — about 15 of 2571 occurrences499–482 Mya — about 4 occurrences482–465 Mya — about 33 occurrences465–449 Mya — about 122 occurrences449–432 Mya — about 89 occurrences432–416 Mya — about 54 occurrences416–399 Mya — about 78 occurrences399–382 Mya — about 79 occurrences382–366 Mya — about 16 occurrences366–349 Mya — about 35 occurrences349–332 Mya — about 56 occurrences332–316 Mya — about 30 occurrences316–299 Mya — about 22 occurrences299–283 Mya — about 11 occurrences283–266 Mya — about 13 occurrences266–249 Mya — about 26 occurrences249–233 Mya — about 117 occurrences233–216 Mya — about 12 occurrences216–199 Mya — about 46 occurrences199–183 Mya — about 83 occurrences183–166 Mya — about 141 occurrences166–150 Mya — about 193 occurrences150–133 Mya — about 49 occurrences133–116 Mya — about 69 occurrences116–100 Mya — about 72 occurrences100–83 Mya — about 393 occurrences83–66 Mya — about 447 occurrences66–50 Mya — about 100 occurrences50–33 Mya — about 83 occurrences33–17 Mya — about 38 occurrences17–0 Mya — about 63 occurrences477.1 Mya129 ka499 Mya0 Mya

2,571 occurrences of Asterozoa on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

2,571 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

460 formations

Gulpen — 50.73°N, 5.67°EGulpen — 50.75°N, 5.67°EMaastricht — 50.85°N, 5.70°EMaastricht — 50.85°N, 6.77°EMaastricht — 50.86°N, 5.79°EMaastricht — 50.85°N, 5.78°EWhite Chalk — 54.52°N, 13.63°ELa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.67°WLa Meseta — 64.26°S, 56.68°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.65°WLa Meseta — 64.25°S, 56.62°WHunsrück Slate — 49.89°N, 7.47°EHunsrück Slate — 49.83°N, 7.37°EBangor Limestone — 34.59°N, 87.63°WBangor Limestone — 34.52°N, 87.58°WPawpaw — 32.73°N, 97.32°WPawpaw — 32.95°N, 97.32°WPawpaw — 32.84°N, 97.29°WPawpaw — 32.63°N, 97.40°WMaastricht — 50.80°N, 5.67°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.06°N, 15.10°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.23°N, 14.43°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.13°N, 14.28°EPeruc-Korycany — 49.83°N, 15.25°EPeruc-Korycany — 49.95°N, 15.47°EPeruc-Korycany — 49.98°N, 15.60°EPeruc-Korycany — 49.97°N, 15.65°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.24°N, 14.48°EPeruc-Korycany — 49.78°N, 14.08°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.08°N, 15.03°EMarnes de Foncouverte — 43.15°N, 2.50°EMarnes de Foncouverte — 43.15°N, 2.57°EMarnes de Foncouverte — 43.17°N, 2.70°EWewoka — 35.04°N, 96.36°WWilmington Sands — 50.80°N, 0.18°EBilá — 49.98°N, 15.60°EKowala — 50.83°N, 20.37°EKowala — 50.88°N, 20.57°EKowala — 50.85°N, 20.82°EKowala — 50.82°N, 20.58°EKowala — 50.80°N, 20.47°ESables de Montormel — 48.97°N, 0.05°WBìlà Hora — 49.83°N, 15.25°EBìlà Hora — 49.93°N, 15.50°EBìlà Hora — 49.83°N, 15.60°EPierre Blanche de Langrune — 49.30°N, 0.35°WEdwardsville — 39.50°N, 86.50°WEdwardsville — 39.75°N, 86.67°WEdwardsville — 39.25°N, 86.33°WEdwardsville — 39.00°N, 86.33°WEdwardsville — 39.04°N, 86.50°WBromide — 34.00°N, 97.00°WBromide — 34.45°N, 97.17°WBromide — 34.07°N, 97.17°WBromide — 34.03°N, 97.17°WEffinger Schichten — 47.26°N, 7.52°ELower Chalk — 51.08°N, 1.18°ELower Chalk — 51.13°N, 1.33°ERenggeri-Ton — 46.83°N, 5.97°ERenggeri-Ton — 45.95°N, 5.55°EVoorstehoek — 33.50°S, 19.82°EVoorstehoek — 33.36°S, 19.51°EVoorstehoek — 33.00°S, 20.00°EVoorstehoek — 33.40°S, 19.90°EBig Clifty — 38.24°N, 86.47°W

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The named rock units Asterozoa has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 436 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 931 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Asterozoa and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Asterozoa and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

3,011 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records at least 805 sites for Asterozoa, and this reads 240 of them. Of that, one read hit the database's own return limit, so every count below is a floor rather than a total. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

531 references

Each of the 2,571 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 519 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Asterozoa

Credit
NOAA Ocean Exploration
Licence
CC BY-SA 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itEleutherozoa through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (von Zittel 1895)