Early eocrinoids and brittle stars
NPL 14795
Found in the Erfoud region of Morocco

This intriguing limestone slab was extracted from Middle-Upper Ordovician (about 450 million years old) rocks in the Anti-Atlas part of the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. This slab was once part of an ancient sea floor that was uplifted and incorporated into mountains about 80 million years ago, long after the sea floor turned into thick layers of rock.

The fossils preserved in this slab include early echinoderms (spiny-skinned marine invertebrate animals) known as eocrinoids and ophiuroids (brittle stars). The brittle stars are clearly recognizable, with their five prehensile arms and compact central body. They look very similar to living species of brittle stars, most of which live in reef, shallow near shore and deeper water environments, and feed on small organisms suspended in the water.