Name:
Isorophus cincinnatiensis
Age: Upper Ordovician
Formation: Fairmont Formation
Location: Near Cincinnati, Ohio
Size: Brachiopod is 1.4 inches across
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Here is a pair of unusual fossil echinoderms. This is a pair of fine edrioasteroids, Isorophus cincinnatiensis, from the Ordovician of Ohio. Edrioasteroids were primitive echinoderms which consisted of a flexible theca composed of numerous polygonal plates. In this specimen, the large edrioasteroids have attached themselves to a brachiopod. This is probably not a symbiotic relationship, nor was the brachiopod under attack - the aragonitic/calcitic shell of the brachiopod merely provided a hard substrate for the edrioasteroids to rest upon. The edrioasteroid specimens have good color and contrast and are unusually positioned near the edges of the brachiopod. This is a very interesting multiple example of this unique ''clinging'' echinoderm.
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