Crinoid - Fossilised animal - 12 cm - 9 cm (No Reserve Price)

This is a highly detailed crinoid plate of the genus Ascocystites, collected near El Kaid Rami, Morocco. The largest specimen of the plate measures 15 cm in length and about 14 cm in width. The bright orange and red coloration, due to the oxidation of iron pyrite, is very beautiful and striking.

The eocrinoids were an primitive group of echinoderms that lived between the Early Cambrian and the Late Silurian. They had a stalk that attached them to the ocean floor via a support, and they were benthic suspension feeders, using their arms to transport food particles to the mouth. It is believed that they are ancestors of many other groups, such as crinoids and blastoids.
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