Ancient Seas, Mexico, Baja, Pliocene period, ca. 7 million years ago; Western Europe, Italy, Tropea, Miocene period, 23 to 5 million years ago. A fine pair of fossilized echinoderms, prehistoric sea urchins. The first is an extinct species of sand dollar known as Encope californicus; a flattened disc shape with a lovely honey brown and beige hue. The five-petal patterning on the slightly convex top is wonderfully preserved and polished. Sand dollars are flat sea urchins that burrow into the sea floor and have velvety spines that decay once the creature dies, leaving a smooth surface behind. The larger urchin is Clypeaster campanulatus, with a high domed top, but also exhibits the iconic five-petal structure radiating outward. The underside has a small cavity at the center which functioned as the mouth for the urchin. Size of larger: 4.75" Diameter x 1.75" W (12.1 cm x 4.4 cm); smaller: 3.375" Diameter (8.6 cm)
Display stands shown in photos are for photography purposes only.
Provenance: ex-Stein collection, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, acquired prior to 2010
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#164107
Condition
Chip and small cavity on upper face of Encope sand dollar. Convex surface is smooth and polished. Minor chips to peripheries. Clypeaster has a stable fissure on the domed face, and small chip in this area. Underside has traces of a barnacle. Otherwise both intact and very good.