New Members svrust Posted April 12 New Members Share Posted April 12 I have found many of these fossils in Pennsylvania. They look like fossilized mud beds with hundreds of small star like, round, and flower shaped trace fossils. Looking for any information on these. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas.Dodson Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 Your guess is correct, these are crinoid columnals. The larger shell like structures in the last image look like brachiopods and/or bivalves. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaybot Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) Yep, Nice crinoid plate Also, Welcome to the forum! Edited April 12 by Jaybot -Jay “The earth doesn't need new continents, but new men.” ― Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 It's not surprising to see the star shape. These are relatives of starfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members svrust Posted April 12 Author New Members Share Posted April 12 Are the stars in the first image crinoid stems as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members svrust Posted April 12 Author New Members Share Posted April 12 Thanks for all of the feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) 34 minutes ago, svrust said: Are the stars in the first image crinoid stems as well? Yes. Just a different species. Or it could be from a different size columnal. I'm not sure. Edited April 12 by Rockwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktooth Posted April 12 Share Posted April 12 (edited) Hello and welcome to the forum from New York! Those last two plates are pretty nice! Dave Edited April 12 by Darktooth I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members svrust Posted April 13 Author New Members Share Posted April 13 Hi Dave. Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area? Any market for these that you know of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Ammonite Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Yes. Give them away to kids to inspire the next generation. My goal is to leave no stone or fossil unturned. See my Arizona Paleontology Guide link The best single resource for Arizona paleontology anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hemipristis Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 9 hours ago, svrust said: I have found many of these fossils in Pennsylvania. They look like fossilized mud beds with hundreds of small star like, round, and flower shaped trace fossils. Looking for any information on these. Nice display piece. Bookshelf material 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' George Santayana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahnmut Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Hi and welcome to the forum. Nice crinoid hashplates! In the area I grew up there where spots with tose abundant layers of columnals, traditionally called "St. Bonifaz´Pennies", but they did not have that nice star pattern. Best regards, J Try to learn something about everything and everything about something Thomas Henry Huxley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 5 hours ago, svrust said: Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area? No. Fossils often occur in clusters, for instance sometimes as so-called "death assemblages" or swept together by ocean currents of bygone ages into a trough or onto the seashore and later buried under the sediment. In the case of crinoids, if you study their anatomy, you'll see that the stalk of just one specimen alone can be made up of hundreds of separate columnals, so when they fall apart after death, which usually occurs quite quickly, you'll soon have a large collection of these lying on the ground. 1 Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockwood Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 5 hours ago, svrust said: Hi Dave. Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area? Any market for these that you know of? I have a piece roughly the size of a football that is composed entirely of smaller columnals. There is virtually no matrix. I've read that it is nowhere near a record size for such an accumulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FossilNerd Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 10 hours ago, svrust said: Hi Dave. Are these "rare" to have such an abundance of fossils in one area? Any market for these that you know of? Nope. Not rare. As @Ludwigia pointed out above. I personally have seen 2 meter thick layers in road cuts composed almost entirely of crinoids fragments. Now finding whole (or almost whole) specimens could be a different story. As far as market or valuation, we do not discuss that here on the open forum as per forum rules. However, I think it’s safe to make a generalized statement that rarity usually drives up market value for any commodity. Considering these are as common as sand on a beach. Well, you can do the math… 1 The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it. -Neil deGrasse Tyson Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don't. -Bill Nye (The Science Guy) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members svrust Posted April 13 Author New Members Share Posted April 13 Thanks for all of the input. That was all really very helpful. I think these fossils are really cool, but when I show them to my wife, she says......"What. No dinosaur bones?" I'll guess I'll keep looking, lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 22 minutes ago, svrust said: Thanks for all of the input. That was all really very helpful. I think these fossils are really cool, but when I show them to my wife, she says......"What. No dinosaur bones?" I'll guess I'll keep looking, lol. Unfortunately you'll have to keep looking outside of your state, since the overwhelming majority of the sedimentary stone is too old to contain any true dinosaur fossils. To my knowledge, the only remnants of dinosaurs in Pennsylvania are dinosaur footprints in the Triassic layers of the southeast of the state. I don't think that as yet any bones have been found. Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kato Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 I feel that although finding a lot of crinoids in one spot is not difficult (especially where I am) that the aesthetics of your crinoid plates are quite nice. I'm especially fond of the last two. Otoh, what I get for crinoid plates are astoundingly full of fragments but not as pleasing to the eye as your specimens. Where I'm at I can find exposures 20 or more feet thick of various layers such as this. Yours are quite pleasing to the eye. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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