|
Date: |
|
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 Hursh (or Hurst), November 1882.
This cold water Brittle Star has been preserved in clay that was deposited beneath a floating ice sheet. Living specimens occur in Artic waters. Brittle Stars live crowded together in great numbers in calm water environments of deeper seas and oceans. They use their flexible arms to swim and feed mainly on tiny food particles in sea water. Brittle stars have not changed very much since they first appeared in the Ordovician period about 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: | Ophiuroidea Mr (or Hurst) Classification: Animalia Echinodermata Invertebrata Hursh | 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 |
|
|