Helicoplacus gilberti

Here's another interesting and rather odd early echinoderm. Helicoplacoids appear only in the early Cambrian shales. It appears to have had a variable shape. Most fossils found have it twisted into a helical shape (hence the name), but there is evidence it could extend and straighten out, at least to a certain extent. It may have been a free-floating organism, however many believe one end was burrowed into the sand or attached to a rock.

About the specimen

It is a Helicoplacus gilberti from the Poleta formation, Cambrian, California.

My Helicoplacus

Back to the main page
Back to the fossil page

Suggestions?-email me.