#2761 - Phyllacanthus titan
A Cidarid urchin found at the Everett's Quarry site in Kakanui in North Otago. The deposit formed around the summit of an extinct underwater volcano in the early Oligocene, and is remarkably rich in fossil diversity. A single 235 gram (8.3 ounce) sample from an upper layer yielded about 300 different species of brachiopods, molluscs, bryozoans, foraminifera, ostracods, corals, echinoderms, serpulids, and barnacles.
If this species was anything like the living members of its genus, it was nocturnal and fed on sponges and other invertebrates.
Most Cidaroid sea urchins live in the deep ocean, but Phyllacanthus species are common in shallow tropical waters. Cidaroids have thick, heavy tests, and robust spines that may be club, fan, or even christmas-tree-shaped.
University of Otago Geology Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand
