Fossil echinoderm collection
Pentacrinites fossilis, a Lower Jurassic crinoid from Lyme Regis, Dorset
The diversity and abundance of echinoderm fossils are reflected in the large, world-class collection that we care for.
Fossil echinoderms are numerous, due in part to the fantastic preservation potential of the calcite plates that form their skeletons. They have been found in Phanerozoic marine sediments around the globe.
Find a specimen
The collections are being digitised and are accessible via the Data Portal.
Specimen numbers
Specimens
200,000
Type specimens
1,800
Strengths
With around 200,000 specimens, including more than 1,800 type and figured specimens, the Museum’s collection is representative of all classes of echinoderms.
Collection strengths:
- Palaeozoic and Mesozoic asterozoans
- Mesozoic echinoids
- Palaeozoic crinoids
- carpoids (Homalozoa)
- blastoids and cystoids
Countries of origin
The collection is representative of all continents.
Geological range
The full geological range of each group is represented in our collection:
- Asterozoa (Cambrian to Recent)
- Blastoidea (Cambrian to Permian)
- Crinoidea (Cambrian to Recent)
- Cystoids (Ordovician to Devonian)
- Echinozoa (Cambrian to Recent)
- Homolozoa including the carpoids (Cambrian to Carboniferous)
