Vaquerosella coreyi Durham 1955
Middle Miocene
Branch Canyon Formation
Santa Barbara County CA USA

Odd, star-shaped echinoid. Very rare.

Vaquerosella is an extinct genus of sand dollar known from a number of Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene sites in California. It is distinctive in that it can range from a flower-like shape with five short but broad petal-like projections to a star-like shape with three arm-like projections. It’s prized by collectors because of its shape, fragility and relative rarity.

Legendary California fossil collector Ralph Bishop used to guide people from around the world to a few of his secret sites for this rare sand dollar.