The cladid crinoid Cupressocrinites Goldfuss in the Devonian of SW England

Abstract

Summary The cladid crinoid Cupressocrinites Goldfuss is a distinctive member of the Middle Devonian biota of SW England. These distinctive crinoids are easily identified to genus from incomplete specimens. They have characteristic columnals with tetragonal symmetry and peripheral canals; arm facets that extend the width of the radial plates; and uniserial, unbranched, triangular arms that are closely abutting. Although specimens from Devon are invariably incomplete, at least two species are recognizable from cups and arms. The specimens described by John Edward Lee (1808–1887) are redescribed with other material from the Natural History Museum, London. The four-fold symmetry of the column is unlikely to have persisted from a Late Ordovician ancestor.