Floating Crinoid (Saccocoma) Fossils - Solnhofen Limestone

These are pelagic or free-floating crinoids (Saccocoma pectinata) from the Jurassic (150 million year old) Solnhofen Limestone in Germany. While most crinoids attached themselves to the sea floor with a stem and holdfast, crinoids of the order Comatulida, also known as feather stars typically do not have stalks. They lived on the seabeds and reefs in tropical or temperate waters.

The Solnhofen limestone is a famous Upper Jurassic lagerstätte in Germany. It is where one of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx, was found. The fine-grained limestone makes excellent building material, which has led to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries. In the process, some spectacular fossils were unearthed, including fossil dragonflies, fish, pterosaurs, shrimp, horseshoe crabs, and many more.

This area represents an ancient archipelago at the edge of a sea. Due to high salt content, the lowest levels in the water column could not support much life and were largely devoid of oxygen. This lack of oxygen and scavengers on the bottom of the sea led to beautiful fossil preservation.

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