Crinoid Plate With 4 Species - Warsaw Formation, Illinois

Crinoid Plate With Species - Warsaw Formation, Illinois #47047

This a very nice multi species crinoid plate from the Warsaw Formation in Illinois. There is Dizygocrinus gorbyi, Dizgocrinus biturbinatus, Eratocrinus commaticus, Abrotocrinus unicus all represented in this single plate. They have nice section of stem still attached making it a very aesthetic specimen. One of the crowns on the upper left hand side of the plate, may have been composited onto the piece.

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