Starfish first appeared in the fossil record in the Cambrian. The first known asterozoans were the Somasteroidea, which exhibit characteristics of both groups. Starfish are infrequently found as fossils, possibly because their hard skeletal components separate as the animal decays. Despite this, there are a few places where accumulations of complete skeletal structures occur, fossilized in place in Lagerstätten — so-called "starfish beds". By the late Paleozoic, the crinoids and blastoids were the predominant echinoderms, and some limestones from this period are made almost entirely from fragments from these groups. In the two major extinction events that occurred during the late
Spiny-flanked chameleon gives birth to live young. "Trioceros laterispinis" was first described in 1932 by British herpetologist and biologist Arthur Loveridge as "Chamaeleon laterispinis". It was described under the same name in 1966 by Daan and Hillenius. In 1982, Böhme described it as the "Chamaeleo laterispinis brookesiaeformis", and in 1999, Necas described it as the "Chamaeleo laterispinis". Tilbury and Tolley described it as "Trioceros laterispinis" in 2009. It is commonly also known as the spiny-flanked chameleon. Spiny-flanked chameleon The spiny-flanked chameleon (also known as the spiny-sided chameleon), Trioceros laterispinis, is a species of chameleon endemic to the United Republic of Tanzania, East