Identified as: Cupulocrinus crossmani – Gabe, thefossilforum.com (sidebar link)
I have been dreaming of finding one good crinoid with calyx and arms since Caleb Scheer of Midwestpaleo.com (sidebar link) posted shots of his find in southwestern Wisconsin last year. I have dreamed about them! And yes, lusted after them…
Several weeks ago Caleb and I hunted together. He had cut them out of the matrix and the block was in his trunk! Oh, he let me touch them… Oh, so big and beautiful, yet still encased in matrix. I just trembled touching them… The crinoids of my dreams!
Well, any woman will tell you that good things come in small packages. And mine may be small, but they are oh so exquisite to me! Perhaps an inch tall. And the Crinoid Gods gifted me TWO in two different rocks–same hunt!
It was a stressful day, and after a gifting I just couldn’t resist stopping at one of my favorite roadcuts on Cty. 8 about 7 miles east of Spring Valley. I stopped at the bottom of the cut on the north side. I found both of these within the first 5 minutes!
Let’s put this in prespective, I have been hunting for “whole” crinoids for almost a year now. In the last six weeks, I have found several!!! And these are oh, so sweet!
These photos just do not do them justice!
And what I believe is a calyx!
These are Ordovician from the Galena Formation, which makes them at least 400 million years old! But to find two rocks with two crinoids each (at least) in one day? It’s phenomenal!
FYI Not all crinoids went extinct. Today they are commonly called Feather Stars or Sea Lillies. They are animals, not plants. Here is one of my favorite videos of a living crinoid.
Check out YouTube for crinoid videos!