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

Ophiopetra
Temporal range: Late Jurassic
Ophiopetra lithographica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Suborder:
Infraorder:
Family:
Subfamily:
Genus:
Ophiopetra

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

Taxonomic history

edit

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, 1852[2] was related to Ophiopetra, and proposed a new family, Aplocomidae Hess, 1965, for the two genera.[3] In 2008, Ophiopetra and another genus, Ophiohybris Hess, 1964, were placed in a new subfamily, Ophiopetrinae Hess & Meyer, 2008, within Aplocomidae.[4]

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.[5]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b 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. ^ Orbigny A. D. d'. (1850-1852). Prodrome de paléontologie stratigraphique universelle des animaux mollusques et rayonnés faisant suite au cours élémentaire de paléontologie et de géologie stratigraphiques. Paris: Masson. vol. 1 [January 1850 ("1849")]: lx + 394 pp.; vol. 2 [November 1850]: 427 pp.; vol. 3 [1852]: 389 pp.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.