Diploporita

Diploporita
Temporal range:
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Echinodermata
Subphylum: Blastozoa
Informal group: Diploporita
Müller, 1854
Superfamilies
  • Asteroblastida Bather, 1900
  • Glyptosphaeritida Bernard, 1895
  • Sphaeronitida Neumayr, 1889

Diploporita is an extinct group of blastozoans that ranged from the Ordovician to the Devonian. These echinoderms are identified by a specialized respiratory structure, called diplopores. Diplopores are a double pore system that sit within a depression on a single thecal (body) plate; each plate can contain numerous diplopore pairs.