A marine invertebrate of the phylum Echinodermata, such as a starfish, sea urchin, or sea cucumber.
‘Included in this clade are three very different-looking phyla - the echinoderms, hemichordates and chordates.’
‘Basically what is available in the fossil record are only hard parts-bones and teeth for vertebrates, and shells for mollusks, arthropods and echinoderms.’
‘These taxa consist of a broad array of organisms, including foraminifers, corals, bryozoans, mollusks, echinoderms, and fish.’
‘The fossil content consists of ammonites, belemnites, brachiopods, echinoderms, bivalves, crinoids, gastropods, ostracodes and benthic foraminifers.’
‘Some DNA-based studies of evolution suggest that hemichordates are actually closer to echinoderms than to true chordates.’
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