''Neocrinus'' is a genus of

crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

s in the family

Balanocrinidae Balanocrinidae is one of four Neontology, extant family (biology), families of crinoids in the Order (biology), order Isocrinida, though most of its members are Extinction, only known from the fossil record. Subfamilies and genera Family Balan ...

, which is otherwise extinct (this genus being a

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

). Members of this genus appeared in the

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

23.03 million years ago in the

Miocene Epoch The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

, and currently contains three known extant species.

Species

* '' Neocrinus blakei'' (Carpenter, 1884) * ''

Neocrinus decorus ''Neocrinus decorus'' is a species of stalked crinoid, or sea lily, in the family Balanocrinidae, being a member of the sole living genus of its subfamily. Distribution The species lives on hard substrates (such as on lithoherm ridges) at d ...

'' (Thomson, 1864) * '' Neocrinus naresianus'' (Carpenter, 1884)

References

Isocrinida Crinoid genera Taxa described in 1864 {{crinoidea-stub