Terminasteridae

{{Short description|Extinct family of starfish}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Callovian|Cenomanian}}

| image = Terminaster cancriformis.JPG

| image_caption = Fossil of Terminaster cancriformis

| taxon = Terminasteridae

| authority = Gale, 2011

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision =

• {{extinct}}Alkaidia
• {{extinct}}Terminaster

}}

Terminasteridae is a family of fossil starfish which lived from the Jurassic to Cretaceous periods. It was erected in 2011 as a monotypic group to contain only the type genus Terminaster (which it is named after).{{Cite journal |last=Gale |first=Andrew Scott |date=April 2011 |title=The phylogeny of post-Palaeozoic Asteroidea (Neoasteroidea, Echinodermata) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285945681 |journal=The Palaeontological Association London Special Papers in Palaeontology |volume=85 |issue=85 |pages=1–112}} A second genus, Alkaidia, was originally described as a member of the extant family Benthopectinidae, but was transferred to Terminasteridae in 2020.{{Cite journal |last=Ewin |first=Timothy A. M. |last2=Gale |first2=Andrew S. |date=September 2020 |title=Asteroids (Echinodermata) from the Barremian (Lower Cretaceous) of the Agadir Basin, west Morocco |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/asteroids-echinodermata-from-the-barremian-lower-cretaceous-of-the-agadir-basin-west-morocco/5876266540DD0F004E5079918A4EEE08 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=94 |issue=5 |pages=931–954 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2020.20 |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}