| Abstract/Notes | Fourteen species of echinoids ranging in age from early to late Eocene, including four new species, are described from Texas. New taxa include Schizaster (Schizaster) caddoensis from the Reklaw and Weches Formations (Claiborne Group, middle Eocene), Schizaster (Schizaster) stenzeli and Eupatagus texanus from the Weches Formation, and Schizaster (Paraster) susana from the Caddell Formation (Jackson Group, upper Eocene). Fibularia meyeri (Aldrich, 1921) and Fibularia alabamensis Cooke, 1959 are synonymized with Fibularia texana (Twitchell, 1915) from the Weches and Cook Mountain Formations (Claiborne Group, middle Eocene). Other reported species are Linthia hollandi Barry, 1942, from the Sabinetown Formation (Wilcox Group, lower Eocene); Gagaria sp., Protoscutella tuomeyi (Twitchell, 1915), Protoscutella mississippiensis mississippiensis (Twitchell, 1915), Maretia arguta (Clark, 1915), and Linthia? sp. from the Weches Formation; Spatangus? sp. and Eupatagus carolinensis? Clark, 1915 from the Cook Mountain Formation, and Periarchus lyelli (Conrad, 1834) from the Cook Mountain and Caddell Formations. These echinoids are sensitive indicators of depositional environment, in particular their distribution serves as a marker for stenohaline (open marine) environments and illustrates the biogeographic variability along the northeast Texas coast during the Eocene. |
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