Crinoids: real or fake?

[PaoloF]

Hello Members,

do you think these crinoids are the real deal? How to recognize fake one?

Thank you in advance

[Ludwigia]

They look to me like Scyphocrinus from Morocco, so they're probably real since the market is flooded with them.

[Fossildude19]

It is good to note that while real, the stems can often be composited of broken stems from other specimens.

So minor restoration is not unusual on these.

[steelhead9]

It is real, but poor quality.

[PaoloF]

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR REPLIES!

[FossilDAWG]

I am very suspicious about the calyx.  The plates do not seem to follow the expected pattern of a ring of basals, followed by radials leading to the arms.  They seem like random bits stuck in anywhere to fill the space.  Then there is a band of what looks like filler, followed by a piece of the smaller interradial plates, then more filler, and finally the arms.  It looks to me as if everything between the stem and the arms has been pieced together by random loose plates and some sort of filler.  I have seen other specimens where the calyx has disintegrated and been replaced with filler with badly carved plates.  I think you could find something better.

 

Don

[PaoloF]

Thanks, FossilDAWG!