Palaeobiology, Palaeoecology and Systematics of the Crinoids in the Lower DevonianHunsrück Slate, Germany

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The Lower Devonian Hunsrück slate is one of the world's most important conservation deposits. The number of fossil finds, their outstanding preservation and species diversity have justified this assessment nationally and especially internationally. This is particularly true for the crinoids, which are in the focus of the project presented here. The sheer number of complete finds of different species is unique and the preservation allows in-depth studies of even the finest details due to the predominant pyritisation. Even the preservation of soft tissue is known for the echinoderms. For these investigations, the Department of Palaeontology of the Institute of Geosciences at the University of Bonn has, among other things, a micro-CT at its disposal. The scientific questions focus, among other things, on the facial and ecological dependencies of the individual taxa or of crinoid communities, special morphological adaptations to formerly different habitats as well as developmental and phylogenetic aspects. Many of the questions are only possible to ask due to the excellent preservation of the fossil material in every respect and can be studied in detail for the first time ever. The project will make a significant contribution to the reconstruction of an ecologically complex, species-rich marine biocoenosis about 400 million years ago, in which crinoids played a central role.