Macraster texanus (Roemer, 1849)

Remarks

• Collector:     Dr. Stephen Crane
• Formation:   Taylor Group, Anacacho Limestone
• Location:      Uvalde County, TX.
• Dimensions:  lt = 37 mm; wt = 35 mm (widest part)
• We would like to thank Scott Kelley for the name revision.  Thanks!
• There is still some debate among fellow echinoid collectors as to whether this is really a Macraster. 
• In Roemer's original figures, he shows the type specimen having a peripetalous fasciole, which is a distinctive character of the hemiasterines and micrasterines, not toxasterines.  However, specimens photographed as Hemiaster texanus Roemer, 1849 by subsequent authors (e.g., see Cooke, 1955 below) do not show this characteristic feature.

General Info

Synonyms (older names and misidentifications in the literature)

• 1849 Hemiaster texanus Roemer

• 1852 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Roemer

• 1853 Hemiaster americanus Gabb

• 1859 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Gabb

• 1864 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Meek

• 1891 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Clark

• 1893 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Clark

• 1893 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Cragin

• 1897 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Aguilera

• 1898 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Hill & Vaughan

• 1899 Hemiaster ? texanus Roemer; Bose

• 1902 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Hill

• 1953 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Cooke

• 1955 Hemiaster texanus Roemer; Cooke

• ? Macraster texanus (Roemer)-need to follow up on this!

Stratigraphic Occurrence

• Taylor Group, Anacacho Limestone of south Texas

• Taylor Group, Anacacho Limestone of Coahuila, Mexico

• Napo Series of Ecuador

Age

• Macraster texanus (Roemer) ranges from about the Menabites (Delawarella) delawarensis (Morton) zone to the Menabites (Delawarella) sabinalensis (Young) zone, very Early Campanian to late Early Campanian (~83–81 mya).

Geographic Occurrence (by no means an all-inclusive list)

• Travis County, TX

• Uvalde County, TX

• El Napo area, Ecuador

Remarks

         For identification and descriptions, see:

• Cooke, C. W.  1955.  Some Cretaceous Echinoids from the Americas.  United Sates Geological Survey Professional Paper 264-E, 109, Plate 29, fig's 5–10.
• Roemer, F. 1852.  Die Kreidebildungen von Texas und Ihre Organischen Einschlüsse.  Bonn:  Adolph Marcus, p. 85; Taf. X, fig's 4a-c