Brittle Star Pair

Brittle Star Pair

Ophiuroidea - species unidentified

Late Ordovician Period (approx. 450 million years ago)

Ktaoua Formation, Erfoud Region, Morocco

Well-preserved articulated bodies with elongate and outstretched waving arms in matrix. Surface detail is incomplete in some areas but does not detract from complete body outlines.

Closely related to starfish, brittle stars differ from their more well-known cousins by having five long, thin, and flexible arms clearly separated from their central disc. Although there are more than 2,000 living species of brittle stars, their remains in the fossil record are extremely limited, making them quite a bit rarer than starfish. One of the reasons for their relative scarcity is that the ossicles lining the bodies of ophiuroids easily detach, hence the term "Brittle Star." Therefore, brittle star fossils only remained intact if they were buried quickly under sediment or if the seabed in which their bodies were deposited remained undisturbed by violent currents, geological forces, or hungry scavengers.

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