The object in context
The Holzmaden slab selected in 2016 measures about three by two metres in the museum dossier and preserves sea lilies identified as Seirocrinus subangularis. Despite their name and plant-like outline, crinoids are animals: echinoderms related to sea stars. Their articulated stems and plates can separate after death, which makes a connected fossil especially useful for reading body structure.
Try this when you look
Find a stem, a point of branching and the feeding arms. Draw their connection rather than a generic flower. Compare an articulated specimen with isolated circular fossil pieces: absence of a whole outline does not mean the pieces belonged to a different organism. Do not describe every visible crack as an original biological feature.
Before you visit
Ask about the Holzmaden crinoid slab when checking the current gallery. The historical dossier supplies dimensions and identification; it does not document every later conservation or display change. These are fossil animals, unlike the living Victoria water lilies elsewhere in the selection.
- The object in context: The Holzmaden slab selected in 2016 measures about three by two metres in the museum dossier and preserves sea lilies identified as Seirocrinus subangularis.
- Try this when you look: Find a stem, a point of branching and the feeding arms.
- Before you visit: Ask about the Holzmaden crinoid slab when checking the current gallery.
