Help with ID

[Bear003]

Hello everyone. I’m an amateur fossil hunter that goes out occasionally by our cabin in central Montana. We often find crinoid rings which are common. Found this today which made my day! I’m wondering if anyone can help ID which family or group this is from? Found in Judith Basin County in the Little Belt Mountains. Thank you!!

[Mochaccino]

Very interesting, and a great find! I'm far from an expert, but assuming that locality is Lodgepole Formation, your crinoid looks to me like one of several species of Platycrinites described from there. Do you have a clearer photo of the calyx/cup surface texture? Based on the occurrence in the Little Belt Mountains described by Laudon and Severson 1953, I think your crinoid may be Platycrinites bozemanensis, but a close-up of the calyx might be more informative.

Edited August 6, 2022 by Mochaccino

[Bear003]

9 hours ago, Mochaccino said:

Very interesting, and a great find! I'm far from an expert, but assuming that locality is Lodgepole Formation, your crinoid looks to me like one of several species of Platycrinites described from there. Do you have a clearer photo of the calyx/cup surface texture? Based on the occurrence in the Little Belt Mountains described by Laudon and Severson 1953, I think your crinoid may be Platycrinites bozemanensis, but a close-up of the calyx might be more informative.

Thanks Mochaccino! I’ll look that up and see what I can find. Here’s another photo that might help. 

[Mochaccino]

1 hour ago, Bear003 said:

Thanks Mochaccino! I’ll look that up and see what I can find. Here’s another photo that might help. 

 

The matrix still makes it a bit hard to see, but if the calyx plates are "nodose" and bumpy with ornamentation instead of being smooth, I am thinking this could also be a Platycrinites canadensis. Again, either way a great find!