Crinoid fossil

We can only guess what the future will look like. But the past? We have evidence to help us paint a picture of it. To visit it.

Sean Rice on Instagram: "A galaxy of stars in the palm of my hand. Found yesterday on the river foreshore; tiny crinoid segments or ossicles, pieces of a plant-like creature that lived around 190 million years ago in the Jurassic and still has living relatives in our oceans today #fossils #fossilhunting #crinoids #crinoid #jurrrassic #naturalhistory #nature #stars"

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The modern ocean is full of scary, disgusting, bizarre, awesome, and adorable organisms (multiply that by several thousand times, and you can cover prehistoric oceans too). While crinoids might not…

Sean Rice on Instagram: "Tiny Jurassic fossils from the river foreshore this afternoon #fossils #fossilhunting #crinoids #crinoid #ammonite #bivalve #jurassic #pyrite"

Sean Rice on Instagram: "Stars and swirls. Jurassic crinoid stars and pyritised ammonites found on the River Severn foreshore last Sunday and yesterday #fossils #fossilhunting #crinoids #crinoid #ammonite #ammonites #naturalhistory"

What are crinoids? These early primitive organisms lived in the shallow seas and lagoons close to shore feeding on bits of material and plankton.

Mother Nature continues to amaze us every day, even when we fail to treat her with the love and respect she deserves. There are too many dreamy landscapes and mind-boggling animals that exist right outside our urban surroundings, just waiting to be appreciated. But be careful though — if you get too close, things can go from mesmerizing to straight-up terrifying in mere seconds.

Beautiful Crinoids. A young fossil hunter found this slab at Charmouth on the Jurassic Coast.

Agaricocrinus fossil crinoid from the Mississippian of Indiana, USA. (William Morgan collection) Crinoids (sea lilies) are sessile, benthic, filter-feeding, stalked echinoderms that are relatively common in the marine fossil record. Crinoids are also a living group, but are relatively uncommon in modern oceans. A crinoid is essentially a starfish-on-a-stick. The stick, or stem, is composed of numerous stacked columnals, like small poker chips. Stems and individual columnals are the most…