Reviews
21.5" Plate of Fossil Crinoids, Bryozoans, and Coral - Indiana
This 21.5" wide slab of rock several fossil crinoids with stems, bryozoans, and coral, collected from the famous crinoid beds near Crawfordsville, Indiana. The quality of preparation on these fossils is exquisite, using skillful air-abrasion techniques under a stereo microscope. A really cool coiled up crinoid stem can be found near one corner of the rock.
Comes with a metal display stand.
There are several repaired cracks through the rock and fossils, some of which required some gap fill restoration. This is a natural association plate, so there has been no composting of the crinoids or their stems.
Comes with a metal display stand.
There are several repaired cracks through the rock and fossils, some of which required some gap fill restoration. This is a natural association plate, so there has been no composting of the crinoids or their stems.
About Crawfordsville Crinoid Fossils
Crinoids from the Ramp Creek Limestone of Crawfordsville, Indiana are world-famous for their extraordinary preservation and diversity. During the Mississippian Period, sudden storm events likely swept fine sediment from nearby deltas across the seafloor, rapidly burying living crinoids where they stood. This quick entombment protected even the most delicate structures, resulting in soft siltstone that can be carefully prepared to reveal fossils in stunning, fully three-dimensional relief.
The Crawfordsville area preserves one of the most important crinoid assemblages ever discovered, with hundreds of described species ranging from common forms to bizarre and highly specialized morphologies. Many specimens retain complete crowns, arms, stems, and even fine pinnules—details that are rarely preserved elsewhere. Because of this exceptional quality, Crawfordsville crinoids have played a major role in the scientific study of crinoid anatomy, evolution, and paleoecology.
Crinoids, often called “sea lilies,” are animals rather than plants and belong to the echinoderms, a group that includes starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars. Like their relatives, crinoids exhibit radial symmetry, tube feet, a water vascular system, and body parts arranged in multiples of five. Crinoids first appeared in the Ordovician Period, nearly 488 million years ago, and while most of the elaborate stalked forms seen at Crawfordsville are long extinct, a small number of crinoid species still inhabit modern oceans today.
Crinoids from the Ramp Creek Limestone of Crawfordsville, Indiana are world-famous for their extraordinary preservation and diversity. During the Mississippian Period, sudden storm events likely swept fine sediment from nearby deltas across the seafloor, rapidly burying living crinoids where they stood. This quick entombment protected even the most delicate structures, resulting in soft siltstone that can be carefully prepared to reveal fossils in stunning, fully three-dimensional relief.
The Crawfordsville area preserves one of the most important crinoid assemblages ever discovered, with hundreds of described species ranging from common forms to bizarre and highly specialized morphologies. Many specimens retain complete crowns, arms, stems, and even fine pinnules—details that are rarely preserved elsewhere. Because of this exceptional quality, Crawfordsville crinoids have played a major role in the scientific study of crinoid anatomy, evolution, and paleoecology.
Crinoids, often called “sea lilies,” are animals rather than plants and belong to the echinoderms, a group that includes starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars. Like their relatives, crinoids exhibit radial symmetry, tube feet, a water vascular system, and body parts arranged in multiples of five. Crinoids first appeared in the Ordovician Period, nearly 488 million years ago, and while most of the elaborate stalked forms seen at Crawfordsville are long extinct, a small number of crinoid species still inhabit modern oceans today.
About Crinoids
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.
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.
$2,750
SPECIES
Various Species
LOCATION
Crawfordsville, Indiana
FORMATION
Edwardsville Formation
SIZE
Rock: 21.5 x 15.3"
CATEGORY
SUB CATEGORY
ITEM
#318674
We guarantee the authenticity of all of our specimens.
