ID For Crinoid Crowns. PSoA Trip to Brownwood Area

[EPIKLULSXDDDDD]

Back at it again with some more specimens I hope to pin down an ID for. These are also from the Adams Branch Limestone/Winchell Fm of the Canyon Group. My method of slowly scouring through every stone around me paid off when I found these beauties. Finding a nice crinoid crown was a big goal of mine coming into the trip that I was pretty sure I wouldn't fulfill. It feels good to come away with so much more than I expected! We'll call them crowns 1, 2, and 3 from left to right in the images below:

 

 

Crown 1 was super exciting for me when I initially came across it, but Melvin's enthusiasm amped me up even more. Although it's compressed, the "bulb" (idk the correct terms) is fairly complete with all of the plates and even some little spines protruding off of it. There are the beginnings of arms springing out as well as the first segment of the circular stem coming out the bottom. The plates for this guy are very bumpy. I've come to the tentative ID of Ethelocrinus magister, but I do not have much familiarity with crinoids so please, please correct me if I am mistaken. Once I pin an ID, I plan on making my debut in the find of the month contest! Crown 3 is only the very bottom, but has a similar bumpiness so I think it's the same species.

 

Here are some more angles of crown 1:

 

 

 

Crown 2's preservation is worse and I am unable to tell the original texture of the plates. I think it's smooth, from what I can see, so I've arrived to the ID of Delocrinus inflexus, though I realize a solid ID may be impossible. It's not very complete, but it shows some arms and some of the crown so I think it's still pretty neat. 

 

Here are some additional pics:

 

The underside doesn't show much:

 

To help inform y'all more, here is a pic of the two types of crinoid plates I found that day. Many bumpy ones and the occasional smooth kind:

 

 

Thanks for reading

[historianmichael]

I would consider Graffhamicrinus magnificus for crinoid 1. Crinoid 2 is definitely a Delocrinus and from what I understand Graffhamicrinus is typically found alongside Delocrinus. 

[EPIKLULSXDDDDD]

 

7 hours ago, historianmichael said:

I would consider Graffhamicrinus magnificus for crinoid 1

 

Good to know we are on the same page with the 2nd crinoid. As for Graffhamicrinus, I took a look, but many of the images online are a bit blurry and I cannot tell if the plates are bumpy. Is there a reference image or description you looked at that you could share? As for the Ethelocrinus ID I mentioned in my post, I saw it on North Texas Fossils and found other online images that looked similar to what I have, but I'm not familiar with crinoids, so I don't know if this genus is even present where I was to be honest. It looked like it had similar bumps. I saw some had star-shaped necks, but others had circular ones like mine so I guess that doesn't throw out Ethelocrinus as an ID.

[historianmichael]

7 hours ago, EPIKLULSXDDDDD said:

 

 

Good to know we are on the same page with the 2nd crinoid. As for Graffhamicrinus, I took a look, but many of the images online are a bit blurry and I cannot tell if the plates are bumpy. Is there a reference image or description you looked at that you could share? As for the Ethelocrinus ID I mentioned in my post, I saw it on North Texas Fossils and found other online images that looked similar to what I have, but I'm not familiar with crinoids, so I don't know if this genus is even present where I was to be honest. It looked like it had similar bumps. I saw some had star-shaped necks, but others had circular ones like mine so I guess that doesn't throw out Ethelocrinus as an ID.

 

I would look in Pennsylvanian Fossils of North Texas and the DPS Pennsylvanian Study Group slide deck for Echinodermata 

Edited September 27, 2022 by historianmichael

[thair]

Nice ones