Crateraster mccarteri (Starfish)

TMM BEG 34041
Cretaceous
Travis County, Texas

These starfish were found in a large block of “float” in Bouldin Creek, here in Travis County. This is one of two pieces that were cut out of the 1200-pound slab. The starfish were first exhibited in 1936, and they have been gems of the Texas Natural Science Center´s collections ever since.

These particular specimens are embedded in a type of rock known as limestone, the “Austin Chalk”. This layer of rock was formed from the settling of fine layers of sediment onto the sea floor during the Late Cretaceous, about 85 million years ago.