Crinoid Plate

Origin: Morocco
Period: Paleozoic (~300-400M years ago)

Size: 7.5" x 11.5"

Crinoids are a type of aquatic animals that attach by a stem to the seafloor, and filter plancton and nutrients out of the water using their feathered arms. The earliest crinoids appeared in the fossil record over 480 million years ago. 

This plate shows a near-complete animal in great detail.