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Description: | Specimen of a fossil brittle star, Ophiolepis gracilis Allen, collected from unspecified rocks of Quaternary, Late Pleistocene, Late Devensian age from Dunbar, East Lothian (Scotland). Collected by Mr Y. Bowe.
This cold water Brittle Star has been preserved in clays that were deposited beneath a floating ice sheet. Living specimens occur in Artic waters today. Brittle Stars live crowded together in great numbers in deeper seas and oceans. They use their flexible arms to swim and feed mainly on tiny food particles in sea water. Ophiouroids have changed very little since they first appeared in the Ordovician around 500 million years ago.
The specimen was found in East Lothian.
It is from the Quaternary period (1.8 - 0 million years ago) | Publisher: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Subjects: | Mr Ophiuroidea Classification: Animalia Echinodermata Invertebrata Y. Bowe | Temporal: | Quaternary period (1.8 - 0 million years ago) | Source: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Identifier: | http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/geofinder/se... | Go to resource |
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