Data from: Rautangaroa, a new genus of feather star (Echinodermata: Crinoidea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand

We describe a nearly complete, and thus extremely rare, featherstar (Crinoidea, Comatulida) from Oligocene strata of North Otago/South Canterbury, New Zealand. A detailed analysis of this specimen, as well as newly recovered material and previously described fragmentary remains from nearby contemporaneous sedimentary units, in addition to relevant historical specimens, lead us to conclude that it cannot be placed in any currently established genus. A new genus, Rautangaroa, is proposed to accommodate it. This intact specimen of Rautangaroa aotearoa (Eagle, 2007), new combination, provides rare data on the morphology of arms and cirri. It represents the first example of arm autotomy and regeneration in a fossil featherstar, and thus has bearing on the importance of predation to the evolutionary history of this group.

我们记述了一件近乎完整、故而极为珍稀的羽星（featherstar）标本，该类群隶属于海百合纲（Crinoidea）羽星目（Comatulida），标本产自新西兰北奥塔哥/南坎特伯雷地区的渐新世（Oligocene）地层。通过对该标本、新发现的相关材料，以及邻近同期沉积层中此前已报道的零碎残骸与相关历史标本开展详细分析，我们推断该标本无法归入任何现有已建立的属。为此我们提议建立新属*Rautangaroa*以容纳该类群。本次报道的完整标本为新组合*Rautangaroa aotearoa*（Eagle, 2007），其为羽星的腕足与卷枝（cirri）形态学研究提供了珍稀数据。该标本是化石羽星中首个被发现的腕足自割（autotomy）与再生（regeneration）实例，因此可为捕食作用在该类群演化历史中的重要性提供关键佐证。