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Description: | Specimen of a fossil echinoid (sand dollar), Scutella subrotunda, collected from unspecified rocks of Tertiary, Miocene age from Malta (Mediterranean). Collected by William K. Loftus.
These flattened sea urchins were adapted to living in sandy sea floor environments. The flat shape prevented them being moved by seafloor currents. The thick test (skeleton) was covered with skin and spines that were used to burrow through the surface layer of sand on the sea floor. The petal shaped area contained specially modified tube feet that extracted oxygen out of the water.
The specimen was found in Malta.
It is from the Tertiary period (65 - 1.8 million years ago) | Publisher: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Subjects: | Classification: Animalia Echinodermata Invertebrata Echinoidea William K. Loftus | Temporal: | Tertiary period (65 - 1.8 million years ago) | Source: | Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums | Identifier: | http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/geofinder/se... | Go to resource |
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