Sea stars (Petraster sp.) Colony affected by mass... Lot 11

Sea stars (Petraster sp.) Colony affected by mass mortality event (MME), 443.8-485.4 million years old, Morocco Fossil 58x39x8 cm Provenance: market (Italy) Conservation status. Surface: 70% (fragile surfaces, damage during matrix removal) Conservation status. Support: 85% (gaps, consolidation) Petraster is an extinct genus of star-shaped echinoderms that lived from the Upper Ordovician to the Late Silurian. The genus has a wide distribution range; fossils have been found in North America and Australia. Based on related echinoderms (starfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, crinoids etc), it is assumed that petraster was a slow-moving benthic carnivore that probably hunted clams and early brachiopods. It possibly had a planktonic infancy and the ability to regenerate its arms like modern starfish The colony at auction dates to the Ordovician.