(LINKS
TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)
Community College (LRCCD)
Geology & Earth
Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Happy
Fossil Friday!
Friday November 6, 2020
Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.
Eupatagus Rostratus Zitteli
Sea Urchin from the Oligocene epoch
This
is a fossil of Eupatagus rostratus zitteli - a spatangoid heart sea urchin found in Cape Farewell,
northern tip of the New Zealand’s south island.
This
specimen is 27.3 - 25.2 million years old from the Oligocene epoch and in life
it would have looked similar to modern-day sea
urchins. The small round pits you see on the surface are where its spines
attached. These are usually broken off and lost before fossilization, so
complete fossil Spatangoids are quite rare.
Example of how Eupatagus rostratus zitteli may have
looked alive
Cape
Farewell New Zealand, near location above fossil was found.
Video
of a modern-day sea urchin similar to how the above
fossil would have looked when alive.
