The remarkable discovery of two fossile starfishes in the Pliocene clay of Cherasco (NW Italy), allowed to analyze in detail the sediment and paleontological material associated (malacofauna and foraminifers assemblages), aiming at reconstructing paleoenvironmental conditions in which these organisms lived. Furthermore biostratigraphic analysis based on planktonic foraminiferal assemblages, allowed the recognition of the MP12 biozone of lower Pliocene.