A Monograph on the British Fossil Echinodermata from the Cretaceous Formations: The Echinoidea

About this book

A reprint of a classical work in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Thomas Wright (1809–84) was a leading nineteenth-century monographer of the Mesozoic echinoderms ('spiny-skinned animals') of the British Isles. The task of describing the British Cretaceous echinoids (sea urchins) was originally to be undertaken by Edward Forbes (1815–54), but his untimely death thrust the responsibility onto Wright. This project was made the more difficult when the accumulated specimens of Forbes disappeared after his death. Fortunately, the British Cretaceous is particularly rich in echinoids which have always been attractive to collectors, so many other sources were available for study. In particular, Monograph on the British Fossil Echinodermata from the Cretaceous Formations is dominated by the sea urchins of the Chalk, which are diverse, commonly well preserved and sometimes bizarre in morphology. Originally published in ten parts between 1864 and 1882, Wright's text is further enhanced by a suite of fine lithographic plates, mainly by Charles R. Bone (1808–75), who unfortunately died before completion of the project.

Contents

- Preface
- Retrospect
- History of echinology since 1862
- Bibliography of ditto
- Divisions of the Cretaceous formation in England
- Classification of the echinodermata
- Terminology of the component elements of the test of the echinoidea
- Classification of the echinoidea, endocyclica and exocyclica
- Description of the families, genera and species of the British Cretaceous echinoidea
- Summary
- Range in geological time
- Index

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