Crinoid sea lily
This small piece of the ‘crinoid bed’ shows the beautifully-preserved details of the arms of this creature. These animals lived on driftwood and when that sank to the sea bed, the whole colony became fossilised. This is the underside of the colony; it is always very much better preserved than the top side because it sank into the mud. The top side was exposed to scavenging animals and weathering and is always much more broken up.
Find out more on the echinoderms page.