I think this might be a sea lily?

[MadeinMichigan]

I picked this up off of the shoreline of Norwood, Michigan this summer. Initially I just thought it was a weird, pretty shell fossil. Until this morning, when I read the recent Atlas Obscura article about sea lily fossils (https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sea-lily-fossil-utah-evolutionary-mystery). The bit that caught my attention was that crinoid fossils often segment into little 'cheerio' shapes. I have SO many Norwood specimens with the distinctive cheerio on them (see the second image, left), and it got me thinking that the white frond shape might be a sea lily? Anyway, I'll be happy to learn whatever it might be, as it's definitely one of the weirdest things I've ever found on the beach.

Thanks!

Made In Michigan

[Petalodus12]

The piece on the left does have crinoid segments present. The large fossil is actually a cnidarian, or horn coral. Your specimen is significantly water worn and shows the structural anatomy of the coral These were solitary corals that flourished during the Paleozoic, and are now found as fossils around the world, such as in the Great Lakes basin. It’s definitely a nice find

[MadeinMichigan]

Awesome, thanks! I just looked up horn coral fossils, and now I'm sorely tempted to cut into it. For the sake of my fingers, though, I will not

[Rockwood]

15 minutes ago, MadeinMichigan said:

Awesome, thanks! I just looked up horn coral fossils, and now I'm sorely tempted to cut into it. For the sake of my fingers, though, I will not

It would be a shame to risk fingers anyway.  This is actually just the living area of the horn. The horn itself would have been facing the other direction from the horn shape shown here.

[JamieLynn]

i think that is a really nice little piece as is. Nature created a jewel just for you.

[MadeinMichigan]

46 minutes ago, JamieLynn said:

i think that is a really nice little piece as is. Nature created a jewel just for you.

It sure did!

[Ancient Bones]

Nice find !