Crinoid(??) Fossil Clusters Identification Help

[svrust]

I have found many of these fossils in Pennsylvania.  They look like fossilized mud beds with hundreds of small star like, round, and flower shaped trace fossils.  Looking for any information on these.

[Thomas.Dodson]

Your guess is correct, these are crinoid columnals. The larger shell like structures in the last image look like brachiopods and/or bivalves.

[Jaybot]

Yep, Nice crinoid plate

Also, Welcome to the forum!

Edited April 12 by Jaybot

[Rockwood]

It's not surprising to see the star shape. These are relatives of starfish. 

[svrust]

Are the stars in the first image crinoid stems as well?

[svrust]

Thanks for all of the feedback.  

[Rockwood]

34 minutes ago, svrust said:

Are the stars in the first image crinoid stems as well?

Yes. Just a different species. 

Or it could be from a different size columnal. I'm not sure. 

Edited April 12 by Rockwood

[Darktooth]

Hello and welcome to the forum from New York!

Those last two plates are pretty nice!

 

Dave

Edited April 12 by Darktooth

[svrust]

Hi Dave.  Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area?  Any market for these that you know of?

[DPS Ammonite]

Yes. Give them away to kids to inspire the next generation.

[hemipristis]

9 hours ago, svrust said:

I have found many of these fossils in Pennsylvania.  They look like fossilized mud beds with hundreds of small star like, round, and flower shaped trace fossils.  Looking for any information on these.

Nice display piece. Bookshelf material

[Mahnmut]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Nice crinoid hashplates!

In the area I grew up there where spots with tose abundant layers of columnals, traditionally called "St. Bonifaz´Pennies", but they did not have that nice star pattern.

Best regards,

J

[Ludwigia]

5 hours ago, svrust said:

Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area?

 

No. Fossils often occur in clusters, for instance sometimes as so-called "death assemblages" or swept together by ocean currents of bygone ages into a trough or onto the seashore and later buried under the sediment. In the case of crinoids, if you study their anatomy, you'll see that the stalk of just one specimen alone can be made up of hundreds of separate columnals, so when they fall apart after death, which usually occurs quite quickly, you'll soon have a large collection of these lying on the ground.

[Rockwood]

5 hours ago, svrust said:

Hi Dave.  Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area?  Any market for these that you know of?

I have a piece roughly the size of a football that is composed entirely of smaller columnals. There is virtually no matrix. I've read that it is nowhere near a record size for such an accumulation. 

[FossilNerd]

10 hours ago, svrust said:

Hi Dave.  Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area?  Any market for these that you know of?

Nope. Not rare. As @Ludwigia pointed out above.
 

I personally have seen 2 meter thick layers in road cuts composed almost entirely of crinoids fragments. Now finding whole (or almost whole) specimens could be a different story.

 

As far as market or valuation, we do not discuss that here on the open forum as per forum rules. However, I think it’s safe to make a generalized statement that rarity usually drives up market value for any commodity. Considering these are as common as sand on a beach. Well, you can do the math… 

[svrust]

Thanks for all of the input.  That was all really very helpful.  I think these fossils are really cool, but when I show them to my wife, she says......"What.  No dinosaur bones?"  I'll guess I'll keep looking, lol.

[Ludwigia]

22 minutes ago, svrust said:

Thanks for all of the input.  That was all really very helpful.  I think these fossils are really cool, but when I show them to my wife, she says......"What.  No dinosaur bones?"  I'll guess I'll keep looking, lol.

 

Unfortunately you'll have to keep looking outside of your state, since the overwhelming majority of the sedimentary stone is too old to contain any true dinosaur fossils. To my knowledge, the only remnants of dinosaurs in Pennsylvania are dinosaur footprints in the Triassic layers of the southeast of the state. I don't think that as yet any bones have been found.

[Kato]

I feel that although finding a lot of crinoids in one spot is not difficult (especially where I am) that the aesthetics of your crinoid plates are quite nice. I'm especially fond of the last two.

 

Otoh, what I get for crinoid plates are astoundingly full of fragments but not as pleasing to the eye as your specimens. Where I'm at I can find exposures 20 or more feet thick of various layers such as this. Yours are quite pleasing to the eye.