Sculpted Stone

This is a wonderful plate of fossil echinoderms from the famous Mississippian Crinoid Beds near Crawfordsville, Indiana. On the right side of the plate is a large Actinocrinites gibsoni with a highly uncommon Onychaster flexilis, a starfish, tightly attached. This specimen represents a true symbiotic relationship. The starfish fed on the excrement of the crinoid. In doing so, it cleaned up the environment so the crinoid could continue to live. This crinoid not only has a starfish attached, it is over 11 inches long and complete all the way to the roots! A very fine Macrocrinus mundulus is located to the left of the Actino's stem. This beautiful camerate crinoid also has an extremely long stem tightly attached. In the upper left corner of the plate are excellent examples of Agaricocrinus, Barycrinus, and Platycrinites. The Barycrinus and Platycrinites also have long stems preserved - it is very rare to have so many crinoids with long stems preserved! All of the crinoids are very 3-dimensional and exhibit excellent detail. The sea lilies are wonderfully showcased on the large, rectangular plate of siltstone - all natural, no compositing. This is a fantastic plate of crinoids from Indiana that also includes a rare starfish association.

A Certificate of Authenticity from EXTINCTIONS is included with this specimen.