The photo above shows a 2.5″ fossil of Hippocampus sarmaticus which was discovered in a streambank in Slovenia. The 13 million year old fossil is one of the oldest ever found and it was closely accompanied by a handful of tiny, inch long baby seahorses. The finds shed some light on the evolution of seahorses and their gregarious nature which is still evident in modern seahorses. The grouping of small seahorses were probably living in a seagrass bed at the time when they were all so neatly fossilized. Follow the link to see additional photos of the fossilized syngnathids.
13 million year old seahorse fossil found in Slovenia

Jake Adams
Jake Adams has been an avid marine aquarist since the mid 90s and has worked in the retail side of the marine aquarium trade for more than ten years. He has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and has been the managing editor of ReefBuilders.com since 2008. Jake is interested in every facet of the marine aquarium hobby from the concepts to the technology, rare fish to exotic corals, and his interests are well documented through a very prolific career of speaking to reef clubs and marine aquarium events, and writing articles for aquarium publications across the globe. His primary interest is in corals which Jake pursues in the aquarium hobby as well as diving the coral reefs of the world.
Share This
Previous Article
DT's Phytoplankton sued Reef Nutrition and lost
Next Article