Floating Crinoid (Saccocoma) - Solnhofen Limestone

This is a pelagic or free-floating crinoid (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. The live on the seabeds and reefs in tropical or temperate waters.

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.