Ophiopetra

Ophiopetra is a genus of prehistoric brittle stars.[1] It lived in lagoons in Solnhofen Plattenkalk Formation. It has only one known species, Ophioptera lithographica.

Ophiopetra
Temporal range: Late Jurassic
Ophiopetra lithographica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Echinodermata
Class:
Ophiuroidea
Order:
Ophiurida
Suborder:
Ophiurina
Infraorder:
Chilophiurina
Family:
†Aplocomidae
Subfamily:
†Ophiopetrinae
Genus:
†Ophiopetra

Enay & Hess, 1962
Species:
†O. lithographica
Binomial name
Ophiopetra lithographica
Enay & Hess, 1962

Taxonomic history

Both Ophiopetra and O. lithographica were first described by Raymond Enay and Hans Hess in 1962, who determined that the genus belonged to the order Chilophiurida Matsumoto, 1915 (later known as the infraorder Chilophiurina) and that it was related to the families Ophiodermatidae and Ophiochitonidae.[1] In 1965, Hess then showed that the genus Aplocoma d'Orbigny, 1952 was related to Ophiopetra, and proposed a new family, Aplocomidae Hess, 1965, for the two genera.[2] In 2008, Ophiopetra and another genus, Ophiohybris Hess, 1964, were placed in a new subfamily, Ophiopetrinae Hess & Meyer, 2008, within Aplocomidae.[3]

Apart from O. lithographica, two further species, O. bathonica Hess, 1964 and O. oertii Hess, 1965, were formerly included in Ophiopetra; in 2013, these two species were both transferred to the new genus Eozonella Thuy, Marty & Comment, 2013.[4]

References
  1. Enay, R.; Hess, H. (1962). "Sur la découverte d'Ophiures (Ophiopetra lithographica n.g.n.sp.) dans le Jurassique supérieur du Haut-Valromey (Jura méridional)" (PDF). Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae (in French). 55: 655–673. doi:10.5169/seals-162941.
  2. Hess, H. (1965). "Trias-Ophiuren aus Deutschland, England, Italien und Spanien". Mitteilungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und historische Geologie (in German). 5: 151–177.
  3. Hess, H.; Meyer, C. A. (2008). "A new ophiuroid (Geocoma schoentalensis sp nov.) from the Middle Jurassic of northwestern Switzerland and remarks on the family Aplocomidae HESS 1965". Swiss Journal of Geosciences. 101 (1): 29–40. doi:10.1007/s00015-008-1253-5.
  4. Thuy, Ben; Marty, Daniel; Comment, Gaël (2013). "A remarkable example of a Late Jurassic shallow-water ophiuroid assemblage from the Swiss Jura Mountains". Swiss Journal of Geosciences. 106 (2): 409–426. doi:10.1007/s00015-013-0133-9.


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