Eocrinoidea

Eocrinoidea Temporal range: Cambrian Stage 3–Silurian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Eocrinoid holdfasts (Middle Ordovician, Utah)
Colourful reconstruction of Gogia ojenai
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Subphylum:	† Blastozoa
Class:	† Eocrinoidea Jaekel, 1899
Groups included [1]
†Ascocystitida †Ascocystitidae †Cambrocystidae [2] †Rhopalocystidae †Gogiida †Eocrinidae †Lichenoididae [3] †Lyracystidae †Thorntonitidae [4] †Turbanicystidae [5] †Imbricata [6] †Lepidocystidae †Trachelocrinida †Heckerocrinidae †Trachelocrinidae †Cryptocrinitidae †Felbabkacystidae [7] †Lingulocystidae †Palaeocystitidae †Rhipidocystidae †Ridersiidae incertae sedis Cigara (?)
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
†Rhombifera [8] †Diploporita [8] †Paracrinoidea [8] †Parablastoidea[ citation needed ] †Blastoidea [8] †Coronoidea [9] Crinoidea (?) [10]

The Eocrinoidea were an extinct class of echinoderms that lived between the Early Cambrian and Late Silurian periods. They are the earliest known group of stalked, brachiole-bearing echinoderms, and were the most common echinoderms during the Cambrian.

The earliest genera had a short holdfast and irregularly structured plates. Later forms had a fully developed stalk with regular rows of plates. They were benthic suspension feeders, with five ambulacra on the upper surface, surrounding the mouth and extending into a number of narrow arms. ^{[11] [12]}

Phylogeny

See also: List of echinoderm orders

Eocrinoids were a paraphyletic group that are seen as the basal stock from which all other blastozoan groups evolved. ^[13]

Early evolution

The following cladogram, after Nardin et al. 2017 with slight modifications, ^[14] shows the progression of early eocrinoid families, with all other eocrinoid families (including representatives Trachelocrinus and Ridersia) grouped with "derived Blastozoans" as their relationships with each other and with other blastozoans are not addressed.

Lepidocystidae	Kinzercystis Vyscystis Lepidocystis
	Felbabkacystidae Felbabkacystis Lyracystis Lyracystidae Akadocrinus Gogia Sinoeocrinus Ubaghsicystis Eocrinidae Lichenoides Lichenoididae Trachelocrinus Ridersia (derived Blastozoa)

Relationships to other groups

Relationships among the eocrinidae and other blastozoan clades are an area of ongoing study. Below are two of many cladograms showing some aspect of eocrinoid paraphyly or polyphyly.

Kinzercystis Titanocrinus Aethocrinus Lyracystis Gogia Sinoeocrinus Akadocrinus Tatonkacystis Ubaghsicystis Dibrachicystis Pleurocystites Velieuxicystis Macrocystella   Ridersia Lepidocystids (Eocrinoids) Crinoids Eocrinoids Dibrachicystids (Rhombiferans) Pleurocystitids (Rhombiferans) Glyptocystitids (Rhombiferans) Stalked Cambrian (and select Ordovician) echinoderms, after Zamora & Smith, 2011. [10] All genera except those bracketed as "Crinoids" are blastozoans.

Akadocrinus Cambrocrinus Ridersia Sanducystis Cystobsastus Lepadocystis Echinoencrinites Cheirocystella Macrocystella Rhombifera Lysocystites Macurdablastus    Codaster Stephanocrinus Thomacystis Caryocrinites Hemicosmites Eocrinoids Glyptocystitoids (Rhombiferans) Blastoids Eublastoids (Blastoids) Coronoids (Blastoids) Hemicosmitoids (Rhombiferans) This cladogram, after Paul et al. 2024, shows several eocrinoids in a polytomy with a clade containing several other blastozoan groups. [9]

References

1. "†class Eocrinoidea Jaekel 1918". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
2. Parsley 2021, p. 975
3. Jell & Sprinkle 2021, p. 6
4. Jell & Sprinkle 2021, p. 19
5. "†class Eocrinoidea Jaekel 1918". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 27 November 2024.
6. "Imbricata". Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera. Retrieved 12 October 2025.(Note: Nardin et al. (2017) "discards" Imbricata in favor of "Lepidocystoidae" which appears to be a misspelling of "Lepidocystidae"; the more broadly accepted arrangement and spelling is shown here.)
7. Nardin et al. 2017, p. 674
8. Smith 1984, p. 439
9. Paul et al. 2024, p. 12–13 (Note: The text groups Sanducystis with eocrinoids as the outgroup, but the paper cited classifies it as a glyptocystitoid; it is shown un-bracketed on this page. Similarly, the text classifies Macurdablastus as a eublastoid, but the cited paper has it as the sister of Eublastoidea; it is shown outside of Eublastoidea on this page.)
10. Zamora & Smith 2011
11. Prothero 2004 , p. 324
12. Barnes 1982
13. Smith 1984 , p. 439
14. Nardin et al. 2017 , p. 680(Note: This source misspells "Lichenoididae" as "Lichenoidae", contrary to the Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part S, Echinodermata 1, and incorrectly (per PBDB) and IRMNG) includes Lyracystis in Eocrinidae instead of Lyracystidae; this cladogram shows the more common spellings and placements.)

Works cited

• Barnes, Robert D. (1982). Invertebrate Zoology. Philadelphia, PA: Holt-Saunders International. pp. 1007–1008. ISBN   978-0-03-056747-6.
• Jell, Peter A.; Sprinkle, James (2021). "Revision of Whitehouse's eocrinoids Peridionites and Cymbionites, with description of the associated fauna including two new echinoderm genera, lower Middle Cambrian Thorntonia Limestone, northwestern Queensland". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 45 (1): 1–55. doi:10.1080/03115518.2021.1913512.
• Nardin, Elise; Lefebvre, Bertrand; Fatka, Oldřich; Nohejlová, Martina; Kašička, Libor; Šinágl, Miroslav; Szabad, Michal (2017). "Evolutionary implications of a new transitional blastozoan echinoderm from the middle Cambrian of the Czech Republic". Journal of Paleontology. 91 (4): 672–684. Bibcode:2017JPal...91..672N. doi:10.1017/jpa.2016.157.
• Parsley, R. L. (2021). "Evolution, Functional Morphology and Paedomorphism in the Gogiid-Ascocystitid Lineage (Eocrinoidea; Cambrian-Ordovician)". Paleontological Journal. 55 (9): 966–976. Bibcode:2021PalJ...55..966P. doi:10.1134/S0031030121090100.
• Paul, Christopher R. C.; Lefebvre, Bertrand; Nohejlová, Martina; Zamora, Samuel (2024). "Rhombifera Barrande, 1867, and the origin of the Blastoidea (Echinodermata, Blastozoa)". Spanish Journal of Palaeontology. 39: 90. doi:10.7203/sjp.28729.
• Prothero, D. R. (2004). Bringing Fossils to Life; An Introduction to Paleobiology (2 ed.). New York: The McGraw-Hill companies.
• Smith, Andrew B. (1984). "Classification of the Echinodermata". Palaeontology. 27 (3): 431–459.
• Ubaghs, Georges (1967). "Eocrinoidea". In Moore, Raymond C. (ed.). Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology, Part S: Echinodermata 1. Vol. 1. University of Kansas Press. pp. S455 –S495. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
• Zamora, Samuel; Smith, A. B. (2011). "Cambrian stalked echinoderms show unexpected plasticity of arm construction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 279 (1727): 293–298. doi:10.1098/rspb.2011.0777. PMC   3223674 . PMID   21653588.