Ancient Seas, North Africa, Morocco, Jurassic to Cretaceous, ca. 189.6 to 112.6 million years ago. This this is an unusual fossil bed containing 3 sea urchins and their spines, lying beside the domed shells; a fascinating presentation of these echinoderms! The hemispherical shells have the five-petal patterning on the domed top, and all are wonderfully preserved. The tubular, club shaped pieces scattered around each urchin are the spines! Usually, the spines decay once the creature dies, leaving the domed shell surface behind, but sometimes the spines fall off the body and are also buried and fossilize along with the shell. We often see these fossils with the spines reattached - here they are left as they were found and shells from other marine life is embedded in the matrix around the urchins. Size: 11" L x 9.5" W x 1" H (27.9 cm x 24.1 cm x 2.5 cm)
Provenance: private Berthoud, Colorado, USA collection
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#167924
Condition
Matrix is repaired with infill to fissure. Natural formation with no composites. Some chips to spines and great preservation of shell details! Other shell fossils embedded into the matrix as well.