Eocrinoid (Ascocystites) From Morocco - Ordovician

This is a plate of very detailed Eocrinoids of the genus Ascocystites collected near El Kaid Rami, Morocco. The largest specimen on the plate is 3.3" in length. The bright orange and red coloration due the oxidization of iron pyrite is very beautiful and showy.

Eocrinoids were an early group of echinoderms that lived between the Early Cambrian and Late Silurian periods. They had a stalk which attached them to the bottom of the ocean via a holdfast and were benthic suspension feeder which used their arms to move particles of food towards a mouth. They are believed to be ancestral to many other groups including crinoids and blastoids.