East Riding Museums

Fossil sea urchin of the Cretaceous period (Catapygus Columbarius). No find spot recorded. Sea urchins (echinoderms) consist of a shell (or "test") of overlapping or butting plates from which (when the creature is alive), project numerous spines or feet, held to the shell by muscles. The sea urchin uses these to get about and they feed with a toothed beak that resembles a drill bit. There are currently about 800 types of sea urchin, living in polar waters as well as tropical areas.