Floating Crinoid Saccocoma From Solnhofen

This is a pelagic (free-floating) crinoid from the Jurassic (150 million year old) Solnhofen Limestone in Germany. It's of the species Saccocoma pectinata. Unlike most specimens being sold it has not been stained or enhanced.

The Solnhofen limetones is a famous Lagerstätte in Germany that offer amazing preservation of Upper Jurassic fossils. It is where on of the most famous fossils of all time, Archaeopteryx was found. The fine grained limestone makes excellent building materials which has let to heavy quarrying over the past two centuries which as a result has led to some amazing fossils being unearthed.