Ophiura

Ophiura is a genus of echinoderms belonging to the family Ophiuridae.

Ophiura

Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
OphiuridaePBDB
Diet
detritivore, suspension feederPBDB, for Ophiuroidea
Life habit
low-level epifaunalPBDB, for Ophiuroidea
Motility
slow-movingPBDB, for Ophiuroidea
Vision
blindPBDB, for Ophiuroidea
Environment
marinePBDB, for Ophiuroidea

Time the record covers

At least 201 million years on record.

The record covers at least 201.4 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 205.7 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Late Triassic — about 2 of 86 occurrencesEarly Jurassic — about 6 of 86 occurrencesEarly JurassicMiddle Jurassic — about 3 of 86 occurrencesLate Jurassic — about 0 of 86 occurrencesLate JurassicEarly Cretaceous — about 9 of 86 occurrencesEarly CretaceousLate Cretaceous — about 38 of 86 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 2 of 86 occurrencesEocene — about 13 of 86 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 2 of 86 occurrencesMiocene — about 2 of 86 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 86 occurrencesPleistocene — about 7 of 86 occurrences210–203 Mya — about 1 occurrence203–196 Mya — about 1 occurrence196–189 Mya — about 1 occurrence189–182 Mya — about 2 occurrences182–175 Mya — about 2 occurrences175–168 Mya — about 3 occurrences168–161 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences161–154 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences154–147 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences147–140 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences140–133 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences133–126 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences126–119 Mya — about 2 occurrences119–112 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences112–105 Mya — about 2 occurrences105–98 Mya — about 4 occurrences98–91 Mya — about 10 occurrences91–84 Mya — about 6 occurrences84–77 Mya — about 7 occurrences77–70 Mya — about 8 occurrences70–63 Mya — about 6 occurrences63–56 Mya — about 1 occurrence56–49 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences49–42 Mya — about 7 occurrences42–35 Mya — about 4 occurrences35–28 Mya — about 1 occurrence28–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–14 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences14–7.0 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences7.0–0 Mya — about 8 occurrences201.4 Mya129 ka210 Mya0 Mya

86 occurrences of Ophiura on record, most of them in the Late Cretaceous. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

86 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

27 formations

La Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.66°WLa Meseta — 64.24°S, 56.64°WLa Meseta — 64.25°S, 56.63°WCraie de Sens — 48.20°N, 3.28°ECraie de Sens — 48.05°N, 3.32°EMaastricht — 50.85°N, 5.70°EMaastricht — 50.87°N, 5.78°EBìlà Hora — 49.83°N, 15.25°EBìlà Hora — 49.83°N, 15.60°EBìlà Hora — 49.93°N, 15.50°EVincentown — 39.97°N, 74.68°WVincentown — 39.93°N, 74.73°WDenison — 32.79°N, 97.32°WDenison — 32.79°N, 97.24°WUpper Chalk — 51.40°N, 0.05°EUpper Chalk — 51.43°N, 0.33°EMesilla Valley — 31.79°N, 106.54°WPeruc-Korycany — 50.06°N, 15.10°EPeruc-Korycany — 50.24°N, 14.48°ETeplice — 50.45°N, 14.05°EAtherfield Clay — 50.61°N, 1.36°WWhite Chalk — 54.52°N, 13.63°EGulpen — 50.73°N, 5.67°EMaastricht — 50.80°N, 5.67°EGulpen — 50.85°N, 5.70°EBarton Clay — 50.74°N, 1.69°WMiddle Lias — 52.02°N, 1.71°WPuerto de Olazagutia — 42.88°N, 2.20°WLe Mans — 48.00°N, 0.21°ESmerltertown — 31.79°N, 106.53°WGrayson — 32.64°N, 97.24°WSt. Mary — 38.35°N, 76.38°WKorycany — 49.93°N, 15.38°EBila hora — 49.88°N, 15.30°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ophiura has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 3 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 35 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ophiura and its relatives

Late Cretaceous

Where Ophiura and its relatives were recorded in the Late Cretaceous.

Found in the same rock

1,078 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 81 sites for Ophiura, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

40 references

Each of the 86 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 28 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Ophiura

Credit
Hans Hillewaert
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itOphiuridae through timeFormations of the Late CretaceousThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Lamarck 1801