photograph by Anna Wojnar

A new brittle star species, Aganaster jagiellonicus, named after the University and the Jagiellonian dynasty, was described in the Acta Palaeontologica Polonica magazine by Dr Ben Thuy (Natural History Museum Luxembourg), Dr Manfred Kutscher (Gummanz Chalk Museum, Sassnitz, Germany) and Dr hab. Bartosz J. Płachno (JU Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences).

The brittle star was discovered by Bartosz Płachno about 10 years ago in a quarry in Czatkowice near Kraków. The very good condition of the specimen enabled a detailed analysis and phylogenetic study of the relations between the Palaeozoic and Cainozoic brittle stars.

The specimen was deposited in the JU Zoological Museum.

Thuy B, Kutscher M, Płachno BJ. 2014. A new brittle star from the Early Carboniferous of Poland and its implications on Paleozoic modern-type ophiuroid systematic. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica