Pelmatozoa was once a clade of Phylum Echinodermata. It included stalked and sedentary echinoderms. The main class of Pelmatozoa were the Crinoidea which includes sea lily and feather star. Pelmetazoa is no longer a classification of Echinodermata. Pelmatozoa s.l. (sensu lato) or Crinozoa s.l., were in some systems a large taxon, sometimes considered a subphylum of echinoderms. The majority of Pelmatozoa s.l. consisted of the extinct taxon Blastozoa. Pelmatozoa s.s. (sensu stricto) sometimes only include Crinoidea.

Characteristics

The body of these ancient Echinodermates is anchored to the bottom through a stem analogous to the epistome of Phoronidea. They're sessile, only rarely capable of movement. Fossils date back at least to Cambrium so they've been on Earth for over 500 million years. In the past, they were a numerous group of marine fauna and many groups belong to lead fossils, however today only one smaller class remains extant.

System (Phylogeny)

Pelmatozoa s.l. = Crinozoa s.l.: Formerly even Carpoidea/Homalozoa belonged to Pelmatozoa. Sources for this chapter: