A body fossil of the starfish Metopaster parkinsoni was collected from chalky rocks of the Coniacian –
Santonian transition in the Abderaz Formation at the Padeha section, east of Mashhad (Kopet-Dagh, Iran).
The species is common in the English Chalk and is well known from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian
of Europe. The new Iranian occurrence of M. parkinsoni extends its geographical range of 700 km to the
South and 2500 km to the East. The species proliferated in upper offshore environments of the North Tethyan
continental shelves. The outstanding occurrence of many well-preserved specimens during the Coniacian –
Santonian transition in Europe and Iran may be related to favorable taphonomic conditions driven by the
Ocean Anoxic Event (OAE III).
© 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All righ