Encrinasteridae is an extinct family of brittle stars. It was erected in 1914 by Charles Schuchert, and the type genus is Encrinaster.

Encrinasteridae
Temporal range: Late Ordovician–Late Carboniferous
Fossils of Encrinaster arnoldi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Ophiuroidea
Family: Encrinasteridae
Schuchert, 1914
Subgroups

Classification

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The family Encrinasteridae was originally named by Charles Schuchert in 1914 as a monotypic group containing only the genus Encrinaster.[1] Later authors assigned more genera to the family, and two subfamilies, Encrinasterinae and Armathyrasterinae, were proposed based primarily on the arrangement of the adambulacrals (ossicles lying along the ambulacral grooves) in 1978.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Schuchert, Charles (1914). "Stelleroidea palaeozoica". Fossilium Catalogus I. Vol. 3. Berlin: W. Junk. p. 8.
  2. ^ Harper, John A.; Morris, Robert W. (1978). "A New Encrinasterid Ophiuroid from the Conemaugh Group (Pennsylvanian) of Western Pennsylvania, and Revision of the Encrinasteridae". Journal of Paleontology. 52 (1): 155–163. ISSN 0022-3360.