Coulonia platyspina n.sp., a new astropectinid sea star from the Lower Cretaceous of Morocco

The asteroid Coulonia platyspina n.sp. from the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian) of the Tamanar coast, belongs to a genus hitherto known only from the Hauterivian of Switzerland. Presence of tool marks on the ventral surface indicates that the animals were dragged along the bottom during a tempestite event before final burial. Very broad inferomarginals with deep fasciolar channels and columnar true paxillae suggest that capability for self-burial comparable to that found in living Astropecten and Luidia. Based on stratigraphic position, fasciolar development appears to represent the phylogenetically derived state and suggests a broadening of astropectinid ecological capabilities during the later Mesozoic, possibly under the stimulus of the Mesozoic increase in predation pressure documented for other groups. -from Authors