Sale NH0903 Lot 211

FINE GERMAN SEA LILY
Seirocrinus subangularis
Jurassic
Posidonienschiefer Formation, Holzmaden, Germany
The crinoid is a strange-looking marine creature, appearing more like a plant than an animal, and it belongs to its own class (Crinoidia) of the phylum Echinodermata. The arms that make up the head of their flower-like form drift in the water and capture passing plankton, push it into the mouth at the center of the calyx. This is supported atop a long flexible stem, the root of which is usually attached to the sea floor. Some species are more itinerant, latching onto driftwood to travel the oceans; it was even discovered, through footage shot in 2005, that they can "uproot" themselves and use their arms to crawl across the sea bed at a surprising speed to escape danger. For crinoids are sometimes referred to as a "living fossil", with species still to be found in today's oceans from Indonesia to the Caribbean. Their fossils are also found all over the world, but the most beautiful and desirable are those from the Posidonia shale beds of Holzmaden in southern Germany. The strong dark color of the shale serves as a beautiful background to the delicate snaking neck of the fossil and the fantastic detail to the mass of tendrils forming the crown, highlighted throughout by the subtle shimmer of pyritization. This is a lovely example and is of an attractive size, and accompanied by six finely detailed ammonites in a 23 x 14 3/4 inch matrix.
Estimate $12,000-18,000