A New Ophiuroid from the Brush Creek Shale (Conemaugh Group, Pennsylvanian) of Western Pennsylvania

Syntomospina kuehni, n. gen. and sp., is the first articulated ophiuroid species to be described from the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian). S. kuehni is readily distinguishable from other described ophiuroid species on the basis of its restricted spinosity and reduced oral arm plates. Associated fauna and stratigraphic evidence suggest that these ophiuroids were buried in marginal marine tidal flat sediments during the regressive phase of the Brush Creek marine event.