What is this?!

[Ramona]

I've got to stop picking up rocks when I take the dog out...  I already have so many in the house that I need to clean and study more, but I went and did it again today.  It looked interesting, but now I am baffled. I cleaned this just a little bit with a weak vinegar solution and then looked at it.  I am used to seeing fenestellan bryozoan, so these little round things caught me off guard.  Are they branches of the bryozoan fossils?  I I do seem some fenestellan bryozoan elsewhere on the rock, I think, but these little things look like eggs or snails?  Point me in a direction and I will go research - again?!  

Thanks so much for being patient with me and my neverending questions!

Ramona

[Kane]

Crinoid ossicles. 

[Ramona]

11 minutes ago, Kane said:

Crinoid ossicles. 

Gotcha! Did some quick research and now I understand the anatomy of crinoids better!  I have always found them more like the typical stalks, so this was not familiar to me.  Thanks for giving me a direction to go in!

[Mark Kmiecik]

2 hours ago, Ramona said:

Gotcha! Did some quick research and now I understand the anatomy of crinoids better!  I have always found them more like the typical stalks, so this was not familiar to me.  Thanks for giving me a direction to go in!

They are often found disarticulated, and were used by Native Americans as beads to make necklaces and other ornamentation. 

[Ludwigia]

Ossicles are fossicles

[Ramona]

On 1/18/2020 at 3:59 PM, Mark Kmiecik said:

They are often found disarticulated, and were used by Native Americans as beads to make necklaces and other ornamentation. 

Thanks!  I was fairly familiar with that information, but I had just never seen any from this perspective, LOL!

[Ramona]

On 1/18/2020 at 5:44 PM, Ludwigia said:

Ossicles are fossicles

I love it!!!  Sounds like a mantra!  

[howard_l]

Chert replaced crinodal limestone

 

[Ramona]

6 minutes ago, howard_l said:

Chert replaced crinodal limestone

 

Fascinating!  I am learning a lot about crinoids!

[Mark Kmiecik]

And if you check it under magnification you'll find gastropods and bryozoans and probably other things.

[Ramona]

15 minutes ago, Mark Kmiecik said:

And if you check it under magnification you'll find gastropods and bryozoans and probably other things.

I am quite certain you are correct, especially on the other side of the rock!  Thanks!!