Pleurocystites? scylla, a new species of pleurocystitid rhombiferan, and comments on early echinoderm teratologies

Abstract

Abstract. Pleurocystitid echinoderms are known to have consistent plating in the theca or body. However, many specimens with aberrant plating are known among glyptocystitoids (Glyptocystella, Hadrocystis, Tyrridiocystis, and so on) as well as the new Ordovician species Pleurocystites? scylla, described here from the Benbolt Formation near Thorn Hill, Tennessee, USA. The presence of an extra plate in the holotype of P? scylla is most likely teratological. While teratology is often misconstrued as parasitism and pathology, it is easily recognized among glyptocystitoid rhombiferans because of the conservative nature of plate arrangements found in these taxa. Teratologic features in stemmed echinoderm thecae appear only to alter suture positioning and not significantly change the thecal shape or diminish the diagnosability of a specimen taxonomically.