Echinoderm Assemblages from the Cretaceous Deposits of the Russian Plate and Its Southeastern Framing

The Cretaceous echinoderm assemblages (echinoids, crinoids, starfish and brittle stars) from the sections of the Russian Plate and its southeastern frame are characterized, and their possible links with the assemblages of adjacent territories is discussed. The proposed biostratigraphic units (biozones and beds with echinoderms for the Upper Cretaceous of the region) are correlated with the units of the Russian general stratigraphic scale. Possible migratory pathways of echinoderms in the Late Cretaceous basins of the European paleobiogeographic region, as well as their links to the Mediterranean and Central Asian paleobiogeographic regions are discussed.