Echinoids from the Chlamys Ledge Member (Polonez Cove Formation, Oligocene) of King George Island, West Antarctica

• Published in: Polish Polar Research
• Main Author: Kroh, Andreas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2014
• Subjects: Ecology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Antarctic; King George Island; West Antarctica; New Zealand; Polonez Cove; Chlamys Ledge; Antarc*; Antarctica; Polar Research
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/popore-2014-0024; http://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/popore/35/3/article-p455.xml; https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/popore.2014.35.issue-3/popore-2014-0024/popore-2014-0024.pdf

Abstract New echinoid material from the Oligocene Chlamys Ledge Member (uppermost part of the Polonez Cove Formation) on King George Island, West Antarctica, includes the “regular” echinoid Caenopedina aleksandrabitnerae sp. n. and poorly preserved spatan-goids, here tentatively identified as members of the genus Abatus . Caenopedina aleksan-drabitnerae sp. n. is characterized by fully tuberculate genital plates, which sets it apart from most other species in the genus, by the uneven periproctal margin which indicates that periproctal plates were incorporated into the apical disc, and by moderately wide inter-ambulacral plates with a height/width ratio of 1:3. Among the modern Caenopedina species it is closest to the Australian and New Zealand representatives, which is in contrast to previ-ous reviews of Cenozoic Antarctic echinoid faunas that suggested limited relationship to the Australasian region. This is the first record of Caenopedina from Antarctica; it considerably extends its historical distribution to the south.