Progress in echinoderm paleobiology

Echinoderms are a diverse and successful phylum of exclusively marine invertebrates that have an extensive fossil record dating back to Cambrian Stage 3 (Zamora and Rahman, 2014). There are five extant classes of echinoderms (asteroids, crinoids, echinoids, holothurians, and ophiuroids), but more than 20 extinct groups, all of which are restricted to the Paleozoic (Sumrall and Wray, 2007). As a result, to fully appreciate the modern diversity of echinoderms, it is necessary to study their rich fossil record.Unidad de Zaragoza, Instituto Geologico y Minero de España, EspañaUnidad Asociada en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Zaragoza, EspañaOxford University Museum of Natural History, Reino Unid