MO. fossil

[mamabear]

found this in SEMO I believe it is from a coral? not sure, please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[mamabear]

could it be whats left from a crinoid? the inside is druzy

 

[Harry Pristis]

could it be whats left from a crinoid? the inside is druzy

I think it is a crinoid part . . . a cross-section of a crinoid stem. Some of these crinoid columnals are round, some are oval, some are star-shaped or pentagonal. If there's one columnal there, there should be others.

It's possible that your fossil represents the basal plate of the aboral cup (calyx). I cannot make out the detail. If it is a basal plate, you probably will not find a scatter of these at your site.

 

[mamabear]

Thanx Harry, I will stop there again soon & keep my eyes open for more of these little beauties. It's on the hiway, & a state trooper flipped his siren on at me but didn't stop. guess I better chk the laws on collecting there. last wk I saw a guy with a ladder checking out another site on the same rd. I will look up the info you gave me so I can learn more about what to look for. the top of the boulders are covered w/ fossils. made my heart race.

 

[mamabear]

what do I look for to id properly?went to harvard edu & checked out their site, but it is pretty daunting for lil ole me. the inside is druzy quite pretty, was the only one like it that I could find, but there was alot to choose from, & not much time. this one caught my eye cuz it was in a different matrix then the rest.

 

[Harry Pristis]

what do I look for to id properly?went to harvard edu & checked out their site, but it is pretty daunting for lil ole me. the inside is druzy quite pretty, was the only one like it that I could find, but there was alot to choose from, & not much time. this one caught my eye cuz it was in a different matrix then the rest.

You may not be able to ID your columnal closer than "may be" because columnal shape is not much used as a diagnostic tool (as far as I can tell from my books). You need a calyx for a confident ID.

To get to the "may be" level, you need to identify the age and/or formation in which your specimen was found. Then, you can deduce which crinoid species were common and which might have had pentagonal columnals. You can do this through publications of the MO geological survey.

The handbook I have was published by the U of MO Press, THE COMMON FOSSILS OF MISSOURI, Missouri Handbook Number Four. This handbook only briefly touches on crinoids, and doesn't ID any that had pentagonal columnals. You need a pub with more details about the crinoids. Perhaps you can find a MO fossils web-site.

Good hunting!

 

[mamabear]

thank you Harry.

 

[fossis]

Our railroad beds are covered in rocks that I believe are from MO, I sometimes find fossils, & pyrite in them.

Fossis...........

 

[mamabear]

Hey Fossis! How ya doin??when I sub'd for our school, I would find all sorts of fossils in the gravel in the play ground. Loved it cuz it got the kids interested, & we would go in & id them, etc. & a friend would find pyrite in the parking lot at his work site. Lots of goodies in the most unexpected places.

 

[mamabear]

The symmetry of that fossil is great. That one has a lot of character.

yup, I have to say that's one of the purtiest fossils I've ever found.