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Hello, I have two slabs that I would like ID help with, one is a hash plate with trilobite cephalons and pygidiums, the other has a crinoid calyx/crown. I'm told they were collected in Reynolds County of Illinois, USA. I did some googling and I don't think there is a Reynolds county in Illinois, but there is a Reynolds village in Rock Island/Mercer County Illinois which is what I'm guessing the seller meant. Anyways, assuming this info, the geological map of Illinois suggests that this locality consists of the Tradewater Formation which is Pennsylvanian in age: https://isgs.illinois.edu/content/bedrock-geology-map-illinois The crinoid calyx is small at just 1 cm across not including the very long primaxil spines. From what I've seen, primaxils produced as spines is a feature that seems uncommon in most geological periods but commonly seen in many Pennsylvanian crinoids. So I'm more convinced that the crinoid is Pennsylvanian. On the other hand, the trilobite cephalons (also measuring about 1 cm) look very much like calymene/flexicalymene which are Silurian/Ordovician genera, so I'm a little more doubtful here. Anyways, here are photos. First the crinoid plate: And the trilobite hash: Thank you.

Hello, Does anyone know who would be the go-to authority on Pennsylvanian crinoids of North America? The most prominent paleontologist I can find based on publications is Harrell Strimple, but he's unfortunately passed away many years ago. I have some specific questions I'd like to ask. Thanks.

Hello! Looking to see if anyone can tell me what species these crinoids are! It was found in O’Fallon, Missouri. Mississippian Period limestone rock outcropping (road cut). Specific location: (38.8189493, -90.7276743) These are the same fossil ^^^^ These three are the same^^^

Is this a crinoid, coral or a shell? (Wales)

Hello! I am new to fossil collecting but have acquired some great Trilobites this year. I am looking for more. I currently use online auction site or online fossil retailer to get items for my collection, but would love to hear more about other trustworthy and high quality sources. Looking forward to being a member of this community -Dan

Back in June, I posted this Burlington crinoid, wondering if it was worth prepping out. Responses were fairly cool except to say it may be worth a bit of exploration to see. @Ptychodus04 volunteered to give me a hand. He was instructed to put about an hour of work into it and then return the crinoid to me. His resulting exposure left me with the nagging question of do I go further. It was not worth professional prepping, so all summer and fall it sat on my desk begging to receive some attention. This week, I grabbed the specimen and kept whittling away at the matrix until I was satisfied. Does anyone have any suggestions on what type of crinoid I have? It is LARGE! 11cm long with each of the 3 columns at or a bit over 1 cm wide. It came from the Burlington Formation/ Mississippian, very likely the fish layer that separates the Burlington from the Keokuk. A little of the calyx surface features can be seen in the center of the next photo. The bumpy surface is more prominent in person than can be seen in the picture. Finally, as an extra tidbit, there were multiple teeth in the matrix. I saved the ones in this corner.

Happy new year! I wanted to show some of the highlights of an unexpected discovery from December 31 last year. I was in my garage when I noticed a pail full of rocks so I decided to try my luck and see what I could find. While I expected to find a crinoid stem at best, about 75% of the rocks ended up having something or another in it! 38 rocks in all ended up being relocated to my room, some have just a few brachiopods or whatever, but some I only have the slightest idea what they are, so any suggestions are much appreciated. Unfortunately I have no idea where any of these came from so there's not much info I can give regarding location. Pic 1 represents some crinoid stems that have really nice depth, better than any others I've gotten. Pic 2 is a collection of what seems to be crinoids and brachiopods, but more cleaning will be needed. Pic 3 is where things get interesting. You can see these shapes which kinda resemble leaves or fish. One of them in the middle, even has a line going down the length of it that is pretty even, if that helps with ID. Pics 4-5 are this really small shape in a collection of crinoid stems that looks to me like some kind of graptolite, though I haven't yet found any genera that match it. Pics 6-7 have this straight ridge which may just be part of the rock, but at the some time looks a bit like a trace fossil of a worm's burrow or something. Pic 8 I originally thought was just another crinoid, but there are these marks in the middle which aren't like anything I've ever seen. My sister thinks they're eggs but I'm not quite convinced. Pics 9-14 has a lot of pictures because I found it hard to get a decent photo because of its size. The thing I'm mainly looking at is the long rectangular thing in the middle, which while I can't find much that resembles it, looks like it might be a eurypterid arm. Those were some of the key finds from this pail of rocks, I will of course update if I find anything else noteworthy. In the meantime, I'd appreciate any suggestions on what some of these could be!

I found this in a creek bed in Arkansas. It looks like it could be a crinoid stem. The size is about 1.5 by 2 inches

The fossil was found near Babler State Park in Wildwood, Missouri, Fern Glen Formation. My best guess is a crinoid holdfast. I've found small crinoid stems and brachiopod fossils in this same creek.

Trying to determine if this is a Crinoid or some sort of coral. From the Mahantango formation (Devonian) of Pennsylvania

Been finding some fossils not related to the Moenkopi or Chinle recently. I assume they washed into the area. Haven’t gotten positive identification of them.

Here is a rock I found over the summer but I am continuing to clean. With the tools I have and the rock's size it is quite difficult to get dirt out of the small bits but it's looking much better. I found this very early in my fossil collecting hobby so at the time I didn't know much about what it was, but I now know that it's crinoid bits (perfectly obvious to me now of course, but it's part of the experience). One thing that's cool is when I first uncovered it, it looked like the whole one side had the bits, but you can see along the middle there isn't as much debris as the sides, which leads me to think that the rock represents 2 separate crinoids, as opposed to one big scattered one that covers the whole rock like I initially thought. I will continue to remove dust so I'll post again if anything interesting shows up!

This was found in a dry portion of creekbed where Devonian age bedrock is out cropped (Lime Creek formation, Mason City, IA). The fossiliferous layers contain bryozoans, stromatoporids, brachiopods, crinoids. After using a tooth brush to rid it of the loosest matrix, this is how it looks. I've attached some microscope pics of the specimen as well. It's essentially a specialized webcam connected via USB to a computer. I'm not able to definitively discern what this is. I'm hoping it's a crinoid calyx but the closest resemblance seems to be some species of oyster. Any suggestions as to what exactly this is would be most welcome. Thanks Sun Dec 18 19-12-48.bmp Sun Dec 18 19-12-48.bmp

I would like to ask if anyone has experience with fossil preparation with the help of heat. My question is triggered by that topic: Authenticating quartz (?) Keichousaurus? - Is It Real? How to Recognize Fossil Fabrications - The Fossil Forum My hypothesis is, that this specimen was baked (as a whole or only superficially, with a blow torch, for example, possibly several times) to promote flaking off of the matrix. Could this be correct? Another question: Some time ago, a baked crinoidal limestone was shown here on TFF (with color turned from a somewhat uniform gray to white-reddish), I can not find the topic again. Anybody else able to find it or able to point to a similar item? Thank you! Franz Bernhard

Few weeks ago started breaking open some pieces of shale. I've found lots of trilobite fragments that I'll post later, but what's intriguing me is these small bits of things that I find quite a lot. I can't find anything on what they might be and my closest guess is perhaps some bits of crinoids? Does anyone have more experience than me with such things?

Greetings I am working on a paper regarding the subtle forms found in crinoids. If you have seen this in a publication. Could you point me in the right direction? Much appreciated.

Hello, I have a whole bunch of unidentified crinoids I'd like some help identifying. From my guess on the species and the fact that there were all together (as well as the other specimens that came with it), my guess is that these are Pennsylvanian or Permian-aged crinoids from Texas or Kansas. I'm hoping narrowing down the ID would better pinpoint the provenance for them. Here goes. The calyxes all range from 1-2 cm wide. I did attempt to ID them, using resources including this by the forum's @Missourian: #1-#4 I think are all of the same species or at least genus. I'm inclined to say either Delocrinus or Graffhamicrinus, which are similar-looking genuses. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. This one is a bit unusual in that it seems to have some arm bits preserved, which look like thick spikes. It's a bit crushed but I think based on the calyx pattern it could still be a Delocrinus or Graffhamicrinus. 6. This one has a basal plate pattern like Delocrinus or Graffhamicrinus, but has unusual spines coming off of the radial plates. The following 3 specimens (#7-9) look similar to the above calyxes, but I noticed they somehow seem more globular and rounded. They may be the same genus/species and just variants, or a different genus/species. For instance, if the above are Delocrinus, perhaps these are Graffhamicrinus? 7. 8. 9. The following four (#10-13) are clearly different from the above. Each has a clear infrabasal circlet and stem attachment, plus the calyx expands towards the top, which gives it a more cone-like appearance. These may be Bathronocrinus according to this: http://inyo2.coffeecup.com/kansasfossils/crinoids2.html 10. 11. 12. This one has some proximal arm bits still attached. 13. This next one has very bulbous/swollen calyx plates, which are especially noticeable from the side view. Perhaps a Galateacrinus according to Missourian's diagram? 14. 15. The plate structure is harder to tell on this one, but it has slightly swollen basal plates that form dimples/notches where they meet the radial plates. This is clear on the side profile. I honestly have no idea what this one could be. 16. This one has no plating texture, and I'm thinking it looks like the basal plate of the floating crinoid known as Paragassiocrinus, which is known from Texas. If so, and it is specific to Texas, perhaps I can attribute all these specimens to the Pennsylvanian of Texas as well. 17. An odd specimen, might be a set of basal plates. 18. This seems to be a stem and basal plates. 19. These seem like spines from the anal tube or "umbrella" of a crinoid such as Plaxocrinus (https://www.google.com/search?q=plaxocrinus&sxsrf=ALiCzsbwpZnGPNxgLHUJ4758h1D4GTNkKQ:1669188769957&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjM5sjd5MP7AhWmKkQIHb3vAIkQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1257&bih=764&dpr=2#imgrc=atyg4qzOxLWjRM). 20. I'm unsure if this is from a crinoid, but it might be part of a spine. 21. This one I placed separately because the color of the calyx and matrix are different from all the rest, and so it may be from a different locality. Species-wise it looks similar to the first 9 specimens I posted, so it may be a Delocrinus or Graffhamicrinus.

Earlier this month I spent a day collecting in the Kope Formation (Upper Ordovician) of northern Kentucky. It is one of my favorite formations to hunt, and I always walk away with some nice stuff. Here are some of my better finds. A decent Ectenocrinus. It is crushed but should turn out nicely after prep. A much smaller Ectenocrinus hiding in a hash plate A pretty classic Kope hash plate. There's a cluster of crinoid arms to the left of center - I doubt there is a calyx but we'll see. A very nice Cyclonema This was a bucket list find for me: a nice example of a crinoid "log jam". There are two little Cincinnaticrinus calyxes mixed in. My best Cincinnaticrinus to date On the trilobite front, not much luck was had. I had been hoping to find some nice examples of Flexicalymene granulosa but found only some weathered partials. But my last Kope site did end up producing something much better: a partial Acidaspis cincinnatiensis! I've never found anything besides a free cheek of this rare bug, so this was certainly a trip maker.

Found this object on a piece of shale. I suspect it might be a crinoid stem but it's really hard to see very much detail as it's so small. There is a trilobite when I split the piece in half in case that helps, though I'm looking for some more experienced eyes to help me out with id, thanks!

Unfortunately I don’t have any provenance for this rock. I bought it years ago screwed to a piece of driftwood for my fish tank. When the driftwood had withered away to a twig, I was throwing it away, but noticed the fossil traces on the rock and kept it. Came across it a few weeks ago, and started messing with it. The fish store was local, and I would assume that this was created by a somewhat local person (in east TN), but I don’t know. The top of the “calyx” is translucent from the underside. Not the softest limestone I’ve found…I can see signs of bryozoans and brachiopods, but it’s hard to expose them.

Howdy! I found dozens of crinoid stems recently and most of them seem to have a thin layer of matrix attached. They were found in limestone, but I don't even know what mineral they've been fossilized in...calcite? Would I be able to remove the matrix with sandpaper and perhaps even polish them? Would sanding them remove visible segmentations? All help is appreciated, thank you.

Found a real nice exposure of the Glen Dean Formation in central Kentucky recently. Oh man did it not dissapoint. So here is some of the best crinoid material I have ever found. A calyx with partial arms, pictured with some stems and ossicles. A single ossicle, with crinoid spins, that are still sharp. Both of which are as common as gravel here. A small peculiarcalyx and crinoid cup. This massive gorgeous Pentremites sp. I found this one on my first trip, so unfortunately no scale but I will upload more of it later. More large blastoids this time around as well. It may not be as diverse, but I have only seen this quality of blastoids in the Thunder Bay of Michigan. An uncrushed Composita sp. A nice spirifid of some variety. I want to say Neospirifir but that is likely incorrect as it does not fit the range. The partial pygidium of a Kaskia chesterensis? Mm mm mm! These delicously preserved Zaphrentis spinulosum. I have some monsters of these, but again they're from a previous trip so I will post them later. I did find some gastropods and tons upon tons of crinoid stems and bryozoans as well, here is one image of them with various other pieces. The Glen Dean of Illinois occurs nearly on the same Latitude as this locality does. However it does not compare with the sheer quality and quantity to be found here in Kentucky.