海星 - 動物化石 - 14 cm - 14 cm (沒有保留價)

来自摩洛哥的美丽海星样本。这些海洋生物是地球上最早栖息的生物形态之一。发现于撒哈拉西北部。
during Ordovician period. The sea levels were at their highest during the Paleozoic era and water temperatures exceeded 110°F. These conditions allowed marine life to prosper and led to wide diversification. It was during this period that starfish (class Asteroidea) and brittle stars (class Ophiuroidea) differentiated.

The starfish, or sea stars, tend to have broader, more interconnected arms. They had tube feet that allowed them to move. The brittle stars, on the other hand, had narrower, more flexible arms that they used to maneuver along the sea floor. The type of brittle star fossils found in Morocco belong to the genus Ophiura and are characterized by a disc-shaped body with long, thin arms arranged radially around it. In the fossil plates their wavy arms give the impression of dancing.

Although many starfish are carnivores and feed on small fish, oysters and mollusks, some are omnivores and supplement their diet with organic particles such as algae. Since starfish have inhabited our seas and oceans for nearly half a billion years with very little change in their anatomy, they are a classic example of what is defined as a "living fossil".