Phylogenetic and taxonomic revisions of Jurassic sea stars support a delayed evolutionary origin of the Asteriidae
Contrary to prior assumptions, our results indicate that none of the Jurassic taxa investigated belong to Asteriidae or any other modern families, and instead represent stem-forcipulatids. Furthermore, our phylogenetic results suggest that Asteriidae likely originated during the late Cretaceous. Our findings highlight a greater early diversity within the Forcipulatacea than previously presumed, challenging existing perceptions of the evolutionary history of this significant clade of marine invertebrates.
Authors
- David F. Wright (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2444-4867)
- Timothy A.M. Ewin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0933-9954)
- Loïc Villier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4221-5176)
- Marine Fau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4289-8456)
- Andrew S. Gale (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2075-3689)
Institutions
- Smithsonian Institution (US)
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- American Museum of Natural History (US)
- National Museum of Natural History (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Centre de recherche en paléontologie - Paris (FR)
- University of Portsmouth (GB)
- University of Oklahoma (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PeerJ
- Published
- 2024-10-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.18169
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Echinoderm biology and ecology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.39
Funders
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung