The present paper is divided into two parts. In the first, all Campanian, Maastrichtian and Danian ophiuroids known to date from the extended type area of the Maastrichtian Stage, are described and illustrated. The geographic and stratigraphic distribution of this diverse echinoderm group are documented. A total of twenty-one genera (one of them new) and thirty-seven species (seven of them new) are recorded from the Campanian-Danian of Liège-Limburg and the Aachen area (Germany). The following taxa are new: Ophiocten? yvonnae sp. nov., Stegophiura? trispinosa sp. nov., Deckersamphiura inusitata gen. et sp. nov., Ophiarachna? martinblomi sp. nov., Ophiolepis? falsa sp. nov., Ophiomusium lux sp. nov., and Mesophiomusium decipiens gen. et sp. nov. Additional... |