✅ SOLVED Not sure if it is a fossil or some type of ???? Plz help.

[Dray01]

Cylinder with bands around middle. Looks like starfish or flier embedded in both ends. Any info is appreciated. Found in Arizona.

 

[Older The Better]

Crinoid stem it’s in the same class, echinoderms, as starfish they all show radial symmetry. It’s a sea flower looking creature that has been around since before the dinosaurs and is still hanging around the oceans

 

[Red-Coat]

Yes, a fossil. It's a broken section from a crinoid columnal. Those with columnar 'stalks' are sometimes called 'sea lilies' because of their resemblance to plants, but they're marine animals loosely related to starfish and sea urchins. That's the reason they sometimes have that five-pointed star shape in the centre of the columnal... because they share an evolutionary history with respect to ancestral forms. They date from the Ordovician period (around 480 million years ago) onwards and are not extinct today but there are no fossils known which are beyond the Late Triassic of c.200 mya.

EDIT: OtB beat me to it.

 

[Older The Better]

Red-coat I know the feeling, I don’t get to help very often, and a lot of times when I can someone beats me to it. Never a bad thing to have some backup

 

[Red-Coat]

Red-coat I know the feeling, I don’t get to help very often, and a lot of times when I can someone beats me to it. Never a bad thing to have some backup

Yes indeed... I don't regard the process of ID'ing as a competitive sport and often don't realise someone else has already replied with good information, if I haven't refreshed the page.

 

[Dray01]

Thank you guys very much very informative! I’ve found my share of shells in AZ, never one these! Glad it went in the pocket!pocket!