The Disparid Crinoid Synbathocrinus Phillips from the Carboniferous of County Clare, Western Ireland

Abstract: The disparid crinoids, diverse in the Ordovician and Silurian, were reduced to just a minor clade by the Carboniferous. Few disparid genera of this age are known from Ireland or, indeed, western Europe. Synbathocrinus sp. cf. S. conicus Phillips from County Clare is distinguished by a well-preserved stem and cup, but disarticulated arms that, nonetheless, remain essentially in situ . This is the first undoubted disparid crinoid to be described from the Carboniferous of County Clare. The specimen was likely buried by sediment soon after death, preventing scattering of the brachials by bottom currents. This occurred before the stem and cup had barely started to disarticulate. As in extant crinoids, the stem immediately beneath the crown was flexible, enabling the animal to orientate its crown into a position for feeding on marine plankton.