Maretia

Maretia; Temporal range: Eocene - Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Maretia planulata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Echinodermata
Class:	Echinoidea
Superorder:	Atelostomata
Order:	Spatangoida
Family:	Spatangidae
Genus:	Maretia; Gray, 1855

Maretia is a genus of heart urchins belonging to the family Spatangidae.[1][2]

Species

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 of Maretia pavesi from Miocene of Italy

Fossils of Maretia are found in marine strata from the Eocene until the Quaternary (age range: from 40.4 to 0.012 million years ago.). Fossils are known from some localities in United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Cuba, Indonesia, New Zealand, and Eritrea and Greece.[4]

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

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