Upper Llandovery (Telychian) crinoids (Echinodermata) of Devil's Dingle, Buildwas, Shropshire

Two crinoids with strong North American affinities are described from the Telychian (Upper Llandovery, Lower Silurian) of Devil's Dingle, near Buildwas, Shropshire. The disparid Myelodactylus convolutus Hall is easily differentiated from other members of this genus from the Silurian of the British Isles by its distinctive stem geometry. This species was hitherto only known with certainty from North America, although an unsubstantiated report had identified it previously from the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation. The sagenocrinid flexible Clidochirus? sp. is tentatively assigned to a genus originally identified from Gotland, but best known from North America. The specimen from Devil's Dingle is probably a new species, with arms branching only twice and a distinctive sculpture to the tertibrachials, but only one side of the crown is exposed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.