Echinoderm role in the history of Phanerozoic tiering in suspension-feeding communities

Echinoderms have played a dominant role in the vertical ecological structure of benthic communities throughout the Phanerozoic. Despite their importance, echinoderms have only contributed to epifaunal tiering and not to infaunal tiering. The ecological importance of tiering for echinoderm communities is demonstrated by the iterative evolution within echinoderm classes for forms adapted to different tiering levels. In shallow subtidal settings, echinoderms dominated the higher tiers from the Cambrian through the Jurassic. Echinoderms have been important members of lower tiers throughout the Phanerozoic. The relative success of sessile suspension-feeding echinoderms has paralleled that of the epifaunal Paleozoic fauna.