Spectacular Platycrinites Crinoid - 6.2"

This is a large and spectacular specimen of the crinoid Platycrinites saffordi from Crawfordsville, Indiana. The crinoid is 6.2" long, very 3D, detailed and located on a 7.5x7 inch slab of limestone. The crown and stem appear to be composited together on this specimen.

Crinoids are commonly known as sea lilies, though they are animals, not plants. They are echinoderms related to starfish, sea urchins, and brittle stars. They attached themselves to the sea floor and had feathery, tentacle-like appendages which they used to capture particles of food. First appearing in the Ordovician period, 488 million years ago, they still survive to this day in deep water.