Moroccan Ophiura Seastar for sale from Ordovician

Description

This Moroccan Ophiura Seastar for sale measures 10.2 cm or 4 inches “toe to toe”. The Seastar is actually a Brittle Star. Crinoids evolved in the Cambrian, but they looked very different then those known today (Lichinoides, Stromatocystes, Trochocystes). The oldest known Seastar comes from The Ordovician of Morocco, but is about 50 mio years older than Ophiura. Still Ophiura would be among the oldest and still be on the bottomline of the evolution of this group of Crinoids. The amazing fact is, that Ophiura Britlestars exist today. Examples are Ophiura albida and Ophiura ophiura in the Baltic and Northern sea.

Even the fossil shows many of the arm segments it is to believe that some parts of some arms have some restauration done. For example the left arm as shown in the picture and the top arm partially. An almost invisible crack runs cross ways (left to right) above the main body of the fossil. It is still a nice fossil with a lot of detail.

Additional information