A new genus of cassiduloid echinoid from the lower Eocene of the Pacific coast of western North America and a new report ofCassidulus ellipticusKew, 1920, from the lower Eocene of Baja California Sur, Mexico

Abstract

The cassiduloid echinoid Calilampas californiensis n. gen. and sp. is described from middle lower Eocene (“Capay Stage”) shallow-marine sandstones in both the middle part of the Bateque Formation, Baja California Sur, Mexico, and the lower part of the Llajas Formation, southern California. The new genus is tentatively placed in family Pliolampadidae. The cassiduloid Cassidulus ellipticus Kew, 1920, previously known only from the “Capay Stage” in California, is also present in “Capay Stage” shallow-marine sandstones of the Bateque Formation.

How can an infaunal brooding echinoid be maintained in the laboratory? A case study with Cassidulus mitis (Echinoidea: Cassiduloida)

“…Mooi (1990a) states that there are 30 extant species within the order Cassiduloida. The morphological similarity between the fossil and extant species is evident (Brito & Ramires, 1974;Brito, 1981;Smith & Bengston, 1991;Squires & Demetrion, 1995), which means that extant cassiduloids have a highly conserved morphology. In other words, no significant morphological novelty has occurred along their lineage since the Upper Cretacean (Smith, 2001).…”