William I. Ausich is Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Orton Geological Museum at The Ohio State University. He is an expert in the study of Paleozoic crinoids with an emphasis on paleobiology and evolutionary paleoecology.

Gary D. Webster is Adjunct Faculty of Geology at Washington State University.

IContents

Introduction / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

Part 1. Functional Morphology, Paleoecology, and Taphonomy

Introduction to Part 1 / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

1. Taphonomy as an Indicator of Behavior among Fossil Crinoids / Tomasz K. Baumiller, Forest J. Gahn, Hans Hess, and Charles G. Messing

2. Attachment, Facies Distribution, and Life History Strategies in Crinoids from the Upper Ordovician of Kentucky / Carlton E. Brett, Bradley L. Deline, and Patrick I. McLaughlin

3. Paleobiology of Carboniferous Microcrinoids / George D. Sevastopulo

4. The Importance of Echinoids in Late Paleozoic Ecosystems / Chris L. Schneider

5. New Observations on Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Uintacrinus socialis Grinnell (Crinoidea; Upper Cretaceous) / Andrew J. Webber, David L. Meyer, and Clare V. Milsom

6. Taphonomy of the Irregular Echinoid Clypeaster humilis from the Red Sea: Implications for Taxonomic Resolution along Taphonomic Grades / James H. Nebelsick

Part 2. Evolutionary Paleoecology

Introduction to Part 2 / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

7. Tiering History of Early Epifaunal Suspension-Feeding Echinoderms / Stephen Q. Dornbos

8. Evolution and Extinction of a Paleozoic Crinoid Clade: Phylogenetics, Paleogeography, and Environmental Distribution of the Periechocrinids / William I. Ausich and Thomas W. Kammer

Part 3. Morphology for Refined Phylogenetic Studies

Introduction to Part 3 / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

9. Paedomorphosis as an Adaptive Response in Pinnulate Cladid Crinoids from the Burlington Limestone (Mississippian, Osagean) of the Mississippi Valley / Thomas W. Kammer

10. Cladid Crinoid Radial Facets, Brachials, and Arm Appendages: A Terminology Solution for Studies of Lineage, Classification, and Paleoenvironment / Gary D. Webster and Christopher G. Maples

11. The Origin of Lovén's Law in Glyptocystitoid Rhombiferans and Its Bearing on the Plate Homology and Heterochronic Evolution of the Hemicosmitoid Peristomial Border / Colin D. Sumrall

Part 4. Mississippian Impacts and Biomakers

Introduction to Part 4 / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

12. Mixed-Age Echinoderms, Conodonts, and Other Fossils Used to Date a Meteorite Impact, and Implications for Missing Strata in the Type Osagean (Mississippian) in Missouri, USA / James F. Miller, Kevin R. Evans, William I. Ausich, Susan E. Bolyard, George H. Davis, Raymond L. Ethington, Charles W. Rovey II, Charles A. Sandberg, Thomas L. Thompson, and Johnny A. Waters

13. Crinoid Biomarkers (Borden Group, Mississippian): Implications for Phylogeny / Christina E. O'Malley, William I. Ausich, and Yu-Ping Chin

Part 5. Echinoderm Faunal Studies

Introduction to Part 5 / William I. Ausich and Gary D. Webster

14. Overview of Early Ordovician Crinoid Diversity from the Western and Southwestern United States / James Sprinkle, Thomas E. Guensburg, and Forest J. Gahn

15. Ever since Ramsbottom: Silurian Crinoids of the British Isles since 1954 / Stephen K. Donovan, David N. Lewis, Rosanne E. Widdison, and Fiona E. Fearnhead

16. Overview of Paleozoic Stemmed Echinoderms from China / Johnny A. Waters, Sara A. Marcus, Christopher G. Maples, N. Gary Lane, Hongfei Hou, Zhouting Liao, Jinxing Wang, and Lujun Liu

17. Fossil Echinodermata from Puerto Rico / Jorge Vélez-Juarbe and Hernán Santos

Appendices

Index