Pentremites

Pentremites Temporal range: Early Carboniferous PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil specimen of Pentremites sulcatus from United States, on display at Galerie de paléontologie et d'anatomie comparée in Paris
Conservation status
Extinct  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Subphylum:	Blastozoa
Class:	Blastoidea
Order:	Spiraculata
Family:	Pentremitidae
Genus:	Pentremites
Species
Pentremites aridus Webster and Lane 1970 Pentremites conoideus Hall 1856 Pentremites cristalensis Macurder 1964 Pentremites elongatus Shumard 1855 Pentremites godoni Pentremites kirki Hambach 1903 Pentremites pentremites Hernon 1935 Pentremites pyriformis Pentremites rusticus Hambach 1903 Pentremites sulcatus Roemer 1851 [1]

Pentremites is an extinct genus of blastoid echinoderm belonging to the family Pentremitidae.^[1]

Description

These echinoderms could reach a height of about 11 centimetres (4.3 in). They were related to the crinoids or sea lilies, living on the sea floor attached by a stalk. They trapped food floating in the currents by means of tentacle-like appendices.^[2]

Pentremites species lived in the early Carboniferous, from 360.7 to 314.6 Ma. Its fossils are known from North America.^[1]

References

• Fossils (Smithsonian Handbooks) by David Ward (Page 190)