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Lot 8273

Brittle Stars

3 December 2006, 11:00 PST
Los Angeles

US$3,500 - US$4,500

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Brittle Stars

Ophiuroides sp
Ordovician
Kataoua Formation, Mecissi, Morocco

An excellently preserved plaque displays 15 brittle stars of varying sizes and a small portion of a trilobite. Often misidentified as starfish, brittle stars belong to the phylum, Echinodermata. Starfish belong to the Class Asteroidea, with five arms that attach to each other. Brittle stars belong to the Class Ophiuroidea, possessing five thin arms attached to a central disk (calyx) which do not touch one another at their base. Brittle stars appeared in the Ordovician and have existed since then, inhabiting all the ocean biozones. Their body is made up of a calcium carbonate (calcite) skeleton. Like starfish, they have the ability to regenerate arms. Measures 24 1/2 x 16in

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