1.45" Crinoid (Scytalocrinus) With Bryozoan Fossil - Crawfordsville

Crinoids from the Ramp Creek Limestone were likely buried in sediment from nearby deltas during storms. The resulting siltstone deposits are soft enough that fossils can be extracted in exquisite, three-dimensional relief.

Crinoids, sometimes commonly referred to as sea lilies, are animals, not plants. They are echinoderms related to starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars. Many crinoid traits are like other members of their phylum. Such traits include tube feet, radial symmetry, a water vascular system, and appendages in multiples of five (pentameral). They first appeared in the Ordovician (488 million years ago) and some species are still alive today.

Bryozoans are microscopic aquatic invertebrates that live in colonies, forming skeletal structures similar to corals. Each skeletal structure has a form unique to each particular species. The individual byrozoans forming these colonies are filter feeders called zooids, straining nutrients from the surrounding water.