Echinoids of the Kairuku Formation (Lower Pliocene), Yule Island, Papua New Guinea: Clypeasteroida

I. D. Lindley*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The Kairuku Formation (Lower Pliocene), Yule Island, Papua New Guinea, contains a rich and diverse echinoid fauna. Clypeasteroid (sand dollar) echinoids are an important component of this fauna and seven taxa are recognised. A seagrass community included the clypeasterids Clypeaster reticulatus (Linné), Clypeaster latissimus (Lamarck) and Clypeaster humilis (Leske) and the laganid Laganum depressum Lesson in L. Agassiz, 1841. A current-swept, shallow water, sand-dwelling community included Laganum decagonale (de Blainville, 1827), Laganum depressum delicatum Mazzetti, 1894 and Laganum depressum sinaiticum Fraas, 1867. Bathymetric ranges of extant forms of these clypeasteroids suggest water depths from littoral to about 40 m. This diverse fauna has much in common with modern communities of the tropical Indo-Pacific, as well as fossil Plio-Pleistocene faunas of the Indonesian archipelago and the western Indian Ocean region.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)125-136
    Number of pages12
    JournalProceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales
    Volume124
    Publication statusPublished - Jan 2003

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