Description
A-Grade Clypeus Fossil Echinoid
This A-grade Clypeus fossil echinoid is a genuine Jurassic sea urchin fossil from the Clypeus Grit Member of the Salperton Limestone Formation, collected from Chedworth, Gloucestershire. It is a carefully chosen specimen with excellent collector appeal, classic British Jurassic provenance, and strong natural history interest. The photograph shows the actual fossil specimen you will receive, allowing you to view the real preservation, shape, surface detail, colour, texture, and overall character of the fossil before purchase. For full sizing, please see the photo.
This fossil includes a fully hand-signed Premium Certificate of Authenticity, making it a desirable addition for fossil collectors, educational collections, natural history displays, and anyone interested in genuine British Jurassic fossils.
Fossil Type and Species
Clypeus is an extinct genus of echinoid, a group of marine animals related to modern sea urchins, sand dollars, and heart urchins. Echinoids belong to the phylum Echinodermata, the same wider group that includes starfish, brittle stars, crinoids, and sea cucumbers. Unlike ammonites or shells, echinoids had a hard internal skeleton known as a test, made from interlocking calcite plates. This test is the part most commonly preserved as a fossil.
Clypeus is a distinctive Jurassic echinoid and is particularly well known from Middle Jurassic limestone deposits in Britain. It has a rounded to slightly domed test with a characteristic five-part ambulacral pattern, reflecting the radial symmetry typical of echinoderms. The fossil form can show the natural outline of the sea urchin, its plated structure, and the pattern of areas where tube feet once emerged. These features make Clypeus fossils highly collectable and visually appealing, especially when preserved as a complete or well-formed specimen.
Clypeus Grit Member and Salperton Limestone Formation
This specimen comes from the Clypeus Grit Member of the Salperton Limestone Formation, a Jurassic limestone unit known for producing echinoids and other marine fossils. The name “Clypeus Grit” reflects the abundance and importance of Clypeus echinoids in this fossil-bearing horizon. The rocks represent a marine environment in which limy sediments accumulated on the sea floor, preserving the remains of echinoids, bivalves, brachiopods, corals, crinoids, and other Jurassic marine life.
The Salperton Limestone Formation forms part of the classic Jurassic geology of the Cotswold region. These limestones were deposited in warm, shallow marine conditions when much of what is now Gloucestershire lay beneath a sea rich in invertebrate life. Over time, shells, echinoid tests, and other skeletal remains became buried, compacted, mineralised, and preserved within the limestone.
Jurassic Sea Urchin from Gloucestershire
Chedworth in Gloucestershire is part of a region long associated with British Jurassic limestone fossils. Fossils from this area are valued because they provide a direct connection to the ancient marine ecosystems that once covered the Cotswolds. During the Jurassic Period, the environment supported a diverse seafloor community, with echinoids such as Clypeus moving across or partly within the sediment while feeding and interacting with the sea-floor habitat.
As a fossil sea urchin, Clypeus offers an excellent example of echinoderm anatomy and Jurassic marine life. Its preserved test represents the protective body structure of an animal that lived millions of years ago, long before the modern landscape of Gloucestershire existed. The fossil’s shape and surface features make it suitable for close study, display, and appreciation as a natural geological specimen.
Collector Quality and Display Appeal
This A-grade Clypeus echinoid is ideal for collectors of British fossils, Jurassic fossils, echinoids, sea urchin fossils, Cotswold limestone specimens, and natural history display pieces. Its locality, formation, and fossil type give it strong scientific and educational appeal, while its natural form makes it an attractive cabinet specimen.
The fossil is sold as a genuine specimen, not a replica or cast. The actual item shown in the photo is the piece you will receive, so you can buy with confidence. With its Clypeus Grit Member provenance, Salperton Limestone Formation geology, Chedworth, Gloucestershire locality, A-grade quality, and fully hand-signed Premium Certificate of Authenticity, this is a highly appealing Jurassic echinoid fossil for any serious or developing collection.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.