Sand Dollar (fossil)

Object/Artifact

-

Crater Rock Museum

Name/Title

Sand Dollar (fossil)

Entry/Object ID

2011.57.134

Description

Crystal System: Hexagonal System Description: Phylum: Echinodermata Class: Echinoidea Order: Clypeasteroida Common Name: Sand Dollar Age: Jurassic Location: Unknown Description: A large conglomerate of marine fossils in a sandstone with mostly undistinguishable species except for a small sand dollar. Physical Characteristics: Sand dollars, like all members of the order Clypeasteroida, possess a rigid skeleton known as a test. The test consists of calcium carbonate plates arranged in a fivefold radial pattern.[2] In living individuals the test is covered by a skin of velvet-textured spines; these spines are in turn covered with very small hairs (cilia). Coordinated movements of the spines enable sand dollars to move across the seabed. The velvety spines of live sand dollars appear in a variety of colours—green, blue, violet, purple—depending on the species. The tests of dead individuals are often found on beaches, the textured skin missing and the skeleton bleached white by sunlight. Fracture: Conchoidal Grain Size: Fine Hardness: 3 Calcite Kingdom: Animalia (Animals) Luster: Vitreous Class: Echinoidea Order: Clypeasteroida Phylum: Echinodermata Rock Origin: Terrestrial Rock Type: Sedimentary Streak: white

Collection

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition

Accession

2011.57

Source or Donor

Museum Collection of Fossils

Acquisition Method

Long-term Loan

Dimensions

Width

9-1/4 in

Depth

8-1/4 in

Length

1-1/2 in

Location

Location

Room

Fossil Room

Building

Crater Rock Museum

Category

Permanent