Dendraster
gibbsii
Here’s a nicely preserved fossil sand dollar
from California. It has been prepared by air abrasion to better show the
plate boundaries.
This is Dendraster gibbsii, first described by
Auguste Rémond in the 1860s. This species is relatively common in
the Siphonalia zone of the Etchegoin Formation (Lower Pliocene).
It comes from the Kettleman Hills (west-central Kings County) of south-central
California, USA.
Classification: Animalia, Echinodermata, Echinozoa, Echinoidea,
Clypeasteroida, Scutellina, Dendrasteridae
Dendraster gibbsii (4.3 cm across) from the Etchegoin Formation (Lower
Pliocene) of the Kettleman Hills, California, USA.