Biodiversity, systematics, and new taxa of cladid crinoids from the Ordovician Brechin Lagerstätte

Upper Ordovician (Katian) strata of the Lake Simcoe region of Ontario record a spectacularly diverse and abundant echinoderm fauna known as the Brechin Lagerstätte. Despite recognition as the most taxonomically diverse Katian crinoid paleocommunity, the Brechin Lagerstätte has received relatively little taxonomic study since Frank Springer published his classic monograph on the “Kirkfield fauna” in 1911.
Using a new collection of exceptionally preserved material, we evaluate all dicyclic inadunate crinoids occurring in the Brechin Lagerstätte, which is predominately comprised of cladids (Eucladida and Flexibilia). We document 15 species across 11 genera, including descriptions of two new genera and four new species. New taxa include Konieckicrinus brechinensis n. gen. n. sp., K. josephi n. gen. n. sp., Simcoecrinus mahalaki n. gen. n. sp., and Dendrocrinus simcoensis n. sp.
Although cladids are not commonly considered major components of the Early Paleozoic Crinoid Macroevolutionary F...