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1 November 2022 A New Genus and Species of Brittle Star (Ophiuroidea: Ophioleucida) from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of Northern Vietnam
Yoshiaki Ishida, Ha Thai Trinh, Ben Thuy, Lea D. Numberger-Thuy, Toshifumi Komatsu, Hung Dinh Doan, Minh Trung Nguyen, Yasunari Shigeta, Toshihiko Fujita
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Abstract

The fossil record of brittle stars, one of the five extant classes of echinoderms, is still rather poorly known. In particular for the Triassic Period, occurrences published to date are strongly biased toward Europe, with only two exhaustively described taxa recorded from the East Asian part of the Tethys Ocean. Here, we record new ophiuroids from the Carnian (Upper Triassic) of the Me area in Ninh Binh Province, Vietnam. The fossils comprise articulated disks and arm fragments preserved as external molds, all original calcite dissolved. We introduce a new genus and species, Triadoleucella meensis, for these specimens that represent the oldest known member of the order Ophioleucida. The ophiuroids were found in mudstones deposited in outer shelf environments below storm wave base. The intact articulation, combined with random orientation and intense fragmentation of individuals suggest effective burial by downslope mudflow prior to or soon after death.

© by the Palaeontological Society of Japan
Yoshiaki Ishida, Ha Thai Trinh, Ben Thuy, Lea D. Numberger-Thuy, Toshifumi Komatsu, Hung Dinh Doan, Minh Trung Nguyen, Yasunari Shigeta, and Toshihiko Fujita "A New Genus and Species of Brittle Star (Ophiuroidea: Ophioleucida) from the Upper Triassic (Carnian) of Northern Vietnam," Paleontological Research 27(2), 147-159, (1 November 2022). https://doi.org/10.2517/PR210014
Received: 26 May 2021; Accepted: 3 October 2021; Published: 1 November 2022
KEYWORDS
Me area
new taxa
Ninh Binh Province
paleoenvironment
Suoi Bang Formation
taphonomy
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