This listing is for the EXACT FOSSIL shown in the photos above! 7.5 by 6.5 inches.
This large crinoid fossil plate was quarried by hand near Erfoud, Morocco. It dates back to the Silurian, or around 420 million years ago. For reference, that's almost 200 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared!
This fossil has been cleaned and reassembled with glue, but no major restoration work has been done. This means that everything you see is genuine, though some gaps in the rock have been filled with putty for structural purposes. The red background is the result of an oil treatment given to the fossil as a whole, which helps to preserve it and make the crinoid portions stand out from the rock matrix.
Includes Certificate of Authenticity.
What are crinoids?
Living crinoids, the descendants of the extinct species that fossilized millions of years ago. (Image: wikimedia.org)
Crionoids are a group of ancient fossil that first appear during the mid Cambrian about 300 million years before the first dinosaurs showed up. Despite commonly being called "sea lillies," crinoids are actually animals instead of plants.
Crinoids lived through the Mesozoic and even survive to present day, though there are differences in their modern counterparts. They are a true feat of evolution, having lived through some of the worst mass extinction events to affect our planet.
Each purchase includes an informational card about the fossil.