Urasterella asperula STUERTZ, 1893

Taxonomy

Starfish

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Class: Asteroidea de Blainville 1830
Order: Platyasterida Spencer 1951
Family: Palasteriscidae Gregory 1900
Genus: Urasterella
Species: Urasterella asperula
Author Citation STUERTZ, 1893

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Paleozoic
Period: Devonian
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Early
International Age: Emsian (early)

Stratigraphy

Hunsrück Slate Group
Kaup Formation

Provenance

Collector: T. Bastelberger
Date Collected: 07/01/1980
Acquired by: Field Collection

Dimensions

Diameter: 8 cm

Location

Eschenbach-Bocksberg Quarry
Bundenbach
Rhineland-Palatinate
Germany

• bundenbach
• devonian
• hunsrück slate
• tff-oilshale-ec1490
• urasterella

Comments

Synonyms of Urasterella asperula  are Protasteracanthion primus and Roemeraster asperula.

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.

Description from Südkamp 2017, p. 127: "Urasterella is the most common asteroid in the Hunsrück Slate. The small disc is composed of a hexagonal central plate surrounded by five hexagonal radial plates, and a further ring of small plates. The small mouth is built of only triangular flat plates. The dorsal surface of the round narrow arms is composed of at least three rows of plates (radials, adradials and inferomarginals; the last were pushed upwards). All plates of the dorsal side bear paxillae with spines. The plates of the oral surface are arranged in two double-sided rows (ambulacrals ans adambulacrals). Mostly, only the large disc-shaped adambulacrals can be recognized, as the opposing subrectangular ambulacrals can only be seen by the wide-opened arm furrow. The adambulacrals bear a transverse ridge carrying long spines."

Name derivation: Ur = old, Aster = star.

Identified by oilshale.

References:

Roemer, C. F. (1864) Neue Asteriden und Crinoiden aus devonischem Dachschiefer von Bundenbach bei Birkenfeld. Palaeontographica 9:143-152
Südkamp, W. (2017) Life in the Devonian. Identification book Hunsrück Slate fossils. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil. München 2017. ISBN978-3-89937-221-2.