Asteroidea indet.
Phylum Echinodermata
Geological Time: Upper Ordovician
Size: Starfish fossil has 65 mm armspan on a 175 mm by 110 mm matrix
Fossil Site: El Kaid Errami Valley, Tafilalt, Morocco
Code: 18152
Price: Sold
 Description:
This plate displays an unusual starfish found in the Ordovician deposits
of El Kaid Errami. Intact starfish specimens are quite uncommon in
the fossil  record.
This specimen is a member of the Asteroidea, or True Starfish. Unlike
the brittlestars, true starfish have no demarcation between the arms
and the ventral body, and move by means of tube feet rather than by
the sinuous movements of the arms. The starfish is unusual in that
it has 6 arms rather than the usual 5. Most likely it had lost one
and then regrown two arms to take its place like Hydra from mythology.
I include a photo I took of an extant specimen early in regeneration
as seen at the Bishop Aquarium of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
La Jolla, California. While I have had a few others to offer, all
have been far smaller than this one. |
