February 2025
Lovenia calzadai Carrasco, 2021 MBCN29524
Lovenia calzadai is a species of sea urchin, now extinct, that lived during the Lutetian and Bartonian (Middle Eocene). It was described from material found in various basins in Catalonia and has also been discovered in Mallorca. The group of sea urchins to which it belongs, known as irregulars or spatangids, has a characteristic heart-shaped form and lives buried in the sand. There, they move using their very fine spines and feed on the organic matter that forms part of the sediment they ingest.
The pieces this month are part of a large set of specimens donated to the MUCBO by the Sant Joan Town Hall. The rocks in which the fossils were found testify to an ancient shallow marine environment, where a diverse community of organisms such as clams and marine snails lived.
- Origin: Sant Joan, Mallorca.
- Age: Paleogene, Middle Eocene, Bartonian (about 40 million years ago).
