Detailed Hunsruck Slate Ophiuroid Brittlestar Fossil

Ophiurina lymani

Phylum Echinodermata, Class Ophiuroidea, Order Ophiurida

Geological Time: Lower Devonian Seigenian/Emsian Stage

Size (25.4 mm = 1 inch): Fossil has a 28 mm armspan on a 145 by 155 mm matrix

Fossil Site: Hunsruck Slate, Bundenbach Germany

Code: GF057

Price: $295.00


Ophiurina lymani FossilDescription: Well-preserved examples of an Ophuroid (brittlestar) known as Ophiurina lymani. The Hunsruck slate is famous for its fossils, many of which have Brittlestar Artpyritization present. Rapid burial and pyritization was what led to the many wonderful examples of early Devonian life from the region. The chemistry of the silt was such that low organic content and high levels of iron and sulfur allowed the pyrite to diffuse into the tissues rather than be deposited in the sediment. The mudstones were metamorphosed into slate during the Carboniferous. The slate was quarried for roofing tiles, and the quarrymen would save the fossils for later sale. Now that the quarries are no longer open, future supplies of these wonderfully-preserved benthic organisms will only come from existing collections. This is an exceptional example from this unique deposit.

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