horn coral crinoid ? any experts?

[bedwards]

This was found in eastern Tennessee By a family friend about 20 years ago. My parents were visiting friends and seen this on their porch. They did not know what it was. They had found it in the hills. They gave it to my parents to give to me. I have wondered for a long long time what it was. Someone on another message board said it was a fossilized crinoid. I saw a picture of a crinoid that looked very similar to what I have. Someone else on that board said that it is a horn coral and that it is very very old and a very nice example because it was preserved as a cluster. Are there any fossil experts in the house?Can anyone here determine exactly what this is , species, period, possibly how old it is?
Thanks for looking. Bed

Sorry for the low quality pics.

 

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[bakergeol]

Yes you are correct- coral. Here is another picture of one.

http://www.uky.edu/KGS/fossils/rugosecolonial2.htm

Really a nice piece.


George

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Size? Toss a quarter in, hold it in your hand or lay a ruler beside the object for a relative size comparison. Size matters.

Looks like a Syringophora "colony" (A single horn coral is still a colony, but they don't cluster - hebce the name "horn").

Syringophora (Silurian to Lower Permian)

 

[bedwards]

the pictures are right at actual size of the cluster.

 

[wildrider]

You been Scuba diving above water again. LOL

I love finding fossils while I'm out on a sunny day enjoying nature.

Good find.

Burt

 

[raunchydawg]

That appears to be a colonial coral and I have several specimens of various size and shape one specimen I have weighs around 60 to 70 lbs.raunchydawg

This was found in eastern Tennessee By a family friend about 20 years ago. My parents were visiting friends and seen this on their porch. They did not know what it was. They had found it in the hills. They gave it to my parents to give to me. I have wondered for a long long time what it was. Someone on another message board said it was a fossilized crinoid. I saw a picture of a crinoid that looked very similar to what I have. Someone else on that board said that it is a horn coral and that it is very very old and a very nice example because it was preserved as a cluster. Are there any fossil experts in the house?Can anyone here determine exactly what this is , species, period, possibly how old it is?
Thanks for looking. Bed

Sorry for the low quality pics.

 

[irbaddadjoe]

Second picture looks like Favistina, similar to colonial coral from the middle and upper Ordovician period (430 to 500 million yrs.)

 

[kraken]

It looks like a fine bunch of rudishs clams,

http://www.unipd.it/vallisneri/en/fossils/18.html

 

[kraken]

First, is this from a Cretaceous deposit and, Tennessee Cretaceous deposits are near the western part of the state. It does look like a rudist, 60 pounds is about right. Also, rudist were the reef builders during the cretaceous. Please have a look that this site, http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/sediment/rudinet/ruform.htm