Roveacrinida (Crinoidea,Articulata) from theSantonian–Maastrichtian (UpperCretaceous) ofEngland, theUS GulfCoast (Texas,Mississippi) and southernSweden

Abstract

Abundant new material of Roveacrinida from the upper Santonian and lower Campanian chalk of southern England, the lower Campanian Taylor Formation of Texas, the Maastrichtian Prairie Bluff Formation of Mississippi and the lower Campanian rocky shoreline deposits of Ivö Klack, southern Sweden is described. The Saccocomidae, subfamily Saccocominae, are represented by Costatocrinus gen. nov., with included species C. brydonei sp. nov. (type species) and C. mortimorei sp. nov. The Saccocomidae, subfamily Applinocrininae, genus Applinocrinus, includes A. cretaceus (Bather), A. texanus Peck and A. russelli sp. nov. Sagittacrinus gen. nov. (type species: S. torpedo sp. nov.) is represented only by highly distinctive primibrachials. The ‘ventral cover plates’ of Applinocrininae are re‐interpreted as modified brachials. Roveacrinidae (Roveacrininae) is represented by Roveacrinus communis Douglas, R. bairstowi Peck and Jakeocrinus gen. nov. (type species: J. ellisensis sp. nov.). A new subfamily, Hessicrininae, characterized particularly by skeletal reduction through the development of fenestrae and foramina, and many with long processes from radials and basals, is established for Platelicrinus Destombes & Breton, Lucernacrinus gen. nov. (type species: L. woodi sp. nov.), Hessicrinus gen. nov. (type species: H. filigree sp. nov.; also H. scalaensis sp. nov.), Stellacrinus gen. nov. (type species: S. hugesae sp. nov.; and forma cristatus nov.), S. pannosus sp. nov., and the aberrant Cultellacrinus gen. nov., which lacks arms (type species: C. gladius sp. nov.). The Santonian–Maastrichtian roveacrinids represent a fourth and final radiation of the family. Cladistic analysis of the Hessicrininae subfam. nov. supports the monophyly of the subfamily, and indicates that the most derived taxa are Stellacrinus gen. nov. and Cultellacrinus gen. nov. From adaptive morphological data, patterns of distribution and palaeoenvironmental information, it is concluded that these crinoids lived as mesoplankton. The short ranges and wide geographical distribution offer considerable biostratigraphical potential.

Roveacrinoidal assemblages (Crinoidea, Roveacrinida, Saccocomidae) from the Albian carbonate microfacies of Sierra Azul (Sabinas Basin, Coahuila, Mexico)

“…The material at hand is therefore evidence for earlier forms of saccocomids to cross the J/K boundary into Albian deposits. The questions lying ahead now are how long these genuine saccocomids persisted into the Cretaceous and their relationship to the genus Applinocrinus Peck, 1973 and other Cretaceous relatives (Gale, 2016(Gale, , 2017.…”

“…The present study deals with the morphological description and the tentative systematic identification of these roveacrinoids (e.g. Douglas, 1908;Peck, 1943Peck, , 1955Peck, , 1973Rasmussen, 1961;Kristan-Tollmann, 1991;Jagt, 1999;Gale, 2016Gale, , 2017, sections of which bear interesting stratigraphic promise (e.g. Bonet, 1956;Kristan-Tollmann, 1970;Bengtson & Berthou, 1983;Berthou & Bengtson, 1988;Ferré & Berthou, 1994;Ferré, 1995Ferré, , 1997Dias-Brito & Ferré, 1997, 2001Ferré & Granier, 2001).…”

Cretaceous Roveacrinids from Mexico revisited: Overcoming the taxonomic misidentifications and subsequent biostratigraphic abuse

“…When exceptionally preserved, it displays an inner plate ring defining a double body cavity (Schneider, 1987(Schneider, , 1989. Each roveacrinid species displays a distinctive architecture and widely different ornamental elements, such as a spine-like aboral element, simple bowls with or without processes, flanged or winged brachials, lateral processes, and flanges or spines (e.g., Schneider, 1987Schneider, , 1989Jagt, 1999;Gale, 2016). Figure 1 depicts a synthetic diagram of a complete roveacrinid individual.…”

“…As recorded in this updated version, the order Roveacrinida consists of 4 families: a) Axicrinidae (monogeneric), from the Triassic deposits of central Tethys; b) Somphocrinidae, from early Triassic (Dienerian-Griesbachian: Salamon et al, 2015) to Late Triassic (Kozur and Mostler, 1971;Donofrio and Mostler, 1975;Kristan-Tollman, 1975, 1991Hess et al, 2016), ranging mostly over the whole Tethysian Ocean and further north to the Svalbard archipelago, with a special emphasis on the first described member, Somphocrinus mexicanus PECK, 1948, from Mexico (Peck, 1948); c) Saccocomidae, from Jurassic (for review see Hess, 2002) to early Maastrichtian (Jagt, 1999) with a special emphasis on the Santonian-Campanian boundary (Gale, 2016); d) Roveacrinidae, from early Hauterivian of Spain (Ferré and Granier, 2000) to Late Cretaceous of Boreal Europe (Jagt, 1999;Ferré et al, 2016a;Gale, 2016Gale, , 2017, with "inconsistent" records beyond (Paleogene-Neogene of Poland; Gorzelak et al, 2011).…”

“…As for their extinction, which is in need of further investigation, there are isolated records in the Neogene of Poland (Salamon et al, 2010;Gorzelak et al, 2011), which have reopened the debate of their survival past the K/T boundary. Each roveacrinoid relative displays a distinctive architecture and widely different ornamental elements, such as a spine-like aboral element, simple bowls with or without processes, flanged or winged brachial plates, lateral processes, flanges or spines (e.g., Schneider, 1987Schneider, , 1989Gale, 2016). Every element of their delicate skeleton facilitates floating or helps support them on a soft-ground substrate.…”