''Maretia'' is a genus of

heart urchin The heart urchins or Spatangoida are an order of sea urchins. Their body is a somewhat elongated oval in form, and is distinguished by the mouth being placed towards one end of the animal, and the anus towards the other. As a result, heart urchi ...

s belonging to the family

Spatangidae The Spatangidae are a family of heart urchins. There are three recognised genera within the family; '' Granopatagus'', '' Plethotaenia'', and ''Spatangus ''Spatangus'' is a genus of heart urchins in the Spatangidae family.Hansson, H. (2009)Sp ...

Species

* '' Maretia carinata'' Bolau, 1873 * ''

Maretia cordata ''Maretia'' is a genus of heart urchins belonging to the family Spatangidae. Species * ''Maretia carinata'' Bolau, 1873 * ''Maretia cordata'' Ole Theodor Jensen Mortensen, Mortensen, 1948 * ''Maretia estenozi'' Sánchez Roig, 1926 * ''Maretia ...

'' Mortensen, 1948 * '' Maretia estenozi'' Sánchez Roig, 1926 * '' Maretia planulata'' (

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, 1816)

Description

These sea urchins are irregular, as the mouth is located at the front of the underside of the animal, while the anus is located in rear end position.

Fossil record

Fossils of ''Maretia'' are found in marine strata from the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

until the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

(age range: from 40.4 to 0.012 million years ago.). Fossils are known from some localities in

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Paleobiologhy Database
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References

* Rowe, F.W.E & Gates, J. (1995). Echinodermata. In ‘Zoological Catalogue of Australia’. 33 (Ed A. Wells.) pp xiii + 510 (CSIRO Australia, Melbourne.)

External links

Flickr

Spatangoida Echinoidea genera Taxa named by John Edward Gray {{echinoidea-stub