5.7" Fossil Crinoid Plate (Four Species) - Crawfordsville, Indiana

Fossil Crinoid Plate (Four Species) - Crawfordsville, Indiana #157252

This is a beautiful, 5.7" plate of detailed fossil crinoids from Crawfordsville, Indiana. There are five crinoids representing four different species present. They have been microscopically prepared using air abrasives. The two larger crinoids are Macrocrinus mundulus, then there is a Pachylocrinus aequalis, and crowns of Halysiocrinus bradley & Lanecrinus depressus.

Crinoids from the Ramp Creek Limestone were likely buried in sediment from nearby deltas during storms. The resulting siltstone deposits are soft enough that fossils can be extracted in exquisite, three-dimensional relief.

Crinoids, sometimes commonly referred to as sea lilies, are animals, not plants. They are echinoderms related to starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars. Many crinoid traits are like other members of their phylum. Such traits include tube feet, radial symmetry, a water vascular system, and appendages in multiples of five (pentameral). They first appeared in the Ordovician (488 million years ago) and some species are still alive today.

About Crinoids