Amphorometra waitakiana
Amphorometra waitakiana is an extinct crinoid (sea lily) in the Conometridae family. It lived in New Zealand during the Late Oligocene and is the oldest known member of the genus Comaster. The fossil shows a roughly circular ventral face and a cone-shaped centrodorsal. It is smooth and concave, with irregular edges, and lacks radial pits or coelomic impressions.
It can be distinguished from other Amphorometra fossils because its centrodorsal is not embayed at the radial edge, it has a moderate circular centrodorsal cavity, and its broad basal furrows do not change in size toward the distal end.
The genus Amphorometra was first described by Michael K. Eagle in 2008 from Late Oligocene rocks in New Zealand, including the Meyers Pass Limestone Member. A species named C. meyerensis extends the known fossil range for Amphorometra beyond earlier Late Cretaceous and Paleocene fossils found in Europe and North Africa. A paratype specimen is kept at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The species name waitakiana refers to the Waitakian stage, an Oligocene time period in New Zealand where the holotype was found.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:39 (CET).