4.3" Fossil Crinoid (Eucalyptocrinites) Holdfast - Indiana

Fossil Crinoid (Eucalyptocrinites) Holdfast - Indiana #198718

This is a 4.3" wide holdfast ("root") of a crinoid of the species Eucalyptocrinites crassus. It is Silurian in age (430 million years old) and was collected from the Waldron Shale of Indiana. The rock has been meticulously worked away to expose this specimen and there are also several fossil brachiopods present on the rock.

It comes with an acrylic display stand.

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.

About Crinoids