Description

Periaster sp.
Echinoid
Paleocene
Locatelli Formation
Santa Cruz Mountains, California, USA

96mm slab with 26mm echinoid. Very rare matrix specimen.

Periaster is a genus of sea urchin better known from the Middle Cretaceous (Cenomanian) of France.  Its occurrence in the Paleocene of California testifies to a more widespread distribution across time that remains undiscovered.

You can collect this site for two hours and find nothing or find one or two. The Periaster specimens usually show some degree of crushing when you find one. Here’s an above-average example still in matrix.