A Brief History and Revision of the Systematics of the Cladid Crinoid \u3ci\u3eSinocrinus\u3c/i\u3e

The erisocrinid Sinocrinus differs from other erisocrinid genera (Erisocrinus and Exaetocrinus) by possessing a rounded, bowl-shaped cup, bearing tumid cup plates with impressed sutures. SinocrinusTien, 1926 is refined using Principal Component Analysis and neighborhood cluster analysis. The genotype of Sinocrinus, S. microgranulosusTien, 1926, is a junior subjective synonym of S. granulatus (Wanner, 1924). Sinocrinus [Erisocrinus] stefaninii (Yakovlev, 1934) is a junior synonym of Sinocrinus lichengensisTien, 1926 and S. asymmetricusStrimple and Watkins, 1969 is the junior synonym of S. sheareriStrimple and Watkins, 1969. Other valid species include: S. [Erisocrinus] cernuus(Trautschold, 1867); S. [Erisocrinus] obliquus (Wanner, 1916); S. houkouensisTien, 1926; S. nodosusTien, 1926; S. [Erisocrinus] stefaninii (Yakovlev, 1934). Because of its refined inclusiveness, the temporal span of the genus now extends from the Late Carboniferous (Moscovian) through the early Permian(Sakmarion). This study also widens the current geographic range of Sinocrinus, with specimens collected across a wider span of Eurasia