Sea Star Burrows (Asteriacites) - Early Jurassic

This is a unusual Lower Jurassic, fossil from France, Asteriacites lumbricalis. Asteriacites is the name given to five-rayed trace fossils found in marine sedimentary rocks. They record the burrows of ophiuroid and asteroid sea stars on the sea floor. Asteriacites are found in European and American rocks, from the Ordovician period onwards, and are especially numerous in the Jurassic system.