Small fossils found at saltburn beach

[Eloise]

Hi there,

 

I found this rock at Saltburn Beach (on the North Yorkshire Coast, UK) and it appears to be made up of some tiny round fossils approximately 3mm in diameter. Some have clear ridges running from the centre out and all appear to have a hole in the middle.

 

There is a patch where they are together and form a longer cylinder, so maybe these are shell parts of a larger organism?

 

I would love to know if anyone has any more information!

 

- Eloise 

[Kane]

These would be a nice collection of crinoid ossicles.

[Opabinia Blues]

Crinoid stem sections. Crinoids are still around, though they’re much less abundant than in deep time, and they’re sometimes called sea lilies. They attach themselves to the sea floor with a stalk/stem and filter feed on microorganisms and organic detritus. They’re echinoderms and so are in the same phylum as sea stars, urchins, and related organisms.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Opabinia Blues
Autocorrect wrote phylum as family - fixed now.

[TqB]

It will be a Carboniferous erratic rather than from the local Jurassic rocks. A lovely piece.  

[IsaacTheFossilMan]

Beautiful piece! Welcome from the UK, as others have suggested, packed full of crinoid columnals. This is such known as "crinoidal limestone".