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Ophiopetra

Ophiopetra is a genus of prehistoric brittle stars. It lived in lagoons in Solnhofen Plattenkalk Formation. It has only one known species, Ophiopetra lithographica.

Taxonomic history

Both Ophiopetra and O. lithographica were first described by Raymond Enay and Hans Hess in 1962, who determined that the genus belonged to the order Chilophiurida <small>Matsumoto, 1915</small> (later known as the infraorder Chilophiurina) and that it was related to the families Ophiodermatidae and Ophiochitonidae. In 1965, Hess then showed that the genus Aplocoma <small>d'Orbigny, 1852</small> was related to Ophiopetra, and proposed a new family, Aplocomidae <small>Hess, 1965</small>, for the two genera. In 2008, Ophiopetra and another genus, Ophiohybris <small>Hess, 1964</small>, were placed in a new subfamily, Ophiopetrinae <small>Hess & Meyer, 2008</small>, within Aplocomidae.

Apart from O. lithographica, two further species, O. bathonica <small>Hess, 1964</small> and O. oertii <small>Hess, 1965</small>, were formerly included in Ophiopetra; in 2013, these two species were both transferred to the new genus Eozonella <small>Thuy, Marty & Comment, 2013</small>.

References