CRINOIDEA FOSSIL

Provenance: Italian private collection

Seirocrinus subangularis is a fossil crinoid species from the Early Jurassic. These flower-like animals are distant relatives of sea urchins and starfish. They consisted of an about 60 to 90 centimeters long stem and a crown that reached the length of 20 to 30 centimeters. With the long arms of the finely branched crown, the crinoids filtered out food particles from the moving water on which they fed. Fossil crinoids are found all over the world, yet the most beautiful specimens come from Holzmaden in southern Germany.
The crinoids lived in huge colonies that swayed back and forth in the ocean depths. This elegant specimen of the Crinoidea family has a minimalist elegance of frozen motion. One might think, in a moment, these five fossilized crinoids would continue their floating movements, as they did millions of years ago.

The presented here example is of the finest quality and shows only minor restaurations.