Evolution and diversification of ophiocistioids (Echinodermata: Echinozoa)

摘要

The evolution and diversification of the small, little understood echinozoan group Ophiocis-tioidea have been reviewed and reinterpreted by including new records of Ordovician and Silurian material from Baltoscandia. Ranging from the early Middle Ordovician to the early Late Permian, reports of ophiocistioids have been limited to Europe and Australia, with single records from North America and Asia. A new hypothesis of higher-level relationships within the Ophiocistioidea is presented.