Echinoconchinae

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Echinoconchinae is an extinct subfamily of brachiopods that lived in the oceans during the Carboniferous and Permian periods (roughly 350–250 million years ago). Fossils have been found all around the world.

Classification at a glance:
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Brachiopoda
- Class: Strophomenata
- Order: Productida
- Family: Echinoconchidae
- Subfamily: Echinoconchinae (named by Stehli in 1954)
The group includes several related subgroups and genera, such as Echinoconchus and Echinaria.

What made them hard to pin down:
For much of the 20th century, scientists debated exactly how Echinoconchinae related to other members of Productidina. This was because key genera like Buxtonia, Pustula, and Juresania shifted position between different classifications. Scientists also disagreed about whether internal features (like the cardinal process) or external shell features should drive classification.

Current understanding:
A study by Leighton and Maples in 2002 analyzed many relationships and found that four subfamilies—Echinoconchinae, Buxtoniinae, Pustulinae, and Juresaniinae—together form the family Echinoconchidae. In their results, Echinoconchinae sits alongside the other subfamilies within this single family.